Breaking Time
by Queen8Candy
Summary: The entire world is on the verge to eternal darkness, and the Guardians must take risks to protect mankind. Pitch Black is stronger than ever, using new techniques to bring fear. Going back in time, starting with the kingdom of Arendelle, Pitch uses his new army of shadows to hunt all magic wielders. Join Jack as he teams up with Elsa to stop Pitch's morbid plans! Jelsa
1. Prologue

_Prologue:_

"I don't want to do this to you."

With a slash of his sword, he sliced the old man's face, resulting in blood splattering the walls and floors. the old man panicked as he choked on his own spit and blood, He could feel his time coming to an end.

"Oh, what am I saying?" He raised the long blade above the old man's chest, "I love this."

For a moment he looked into his eyes, so cold and scared. Of course, that's what made Pitch stop and watch as the life of this man sank. It wasn't everyday he came across someone like him, someone at all actually. Pitch swiftly jerked the sword into the old man's stomach, but stopped just to where the tip of the blade pierced into his rib. He was checking to see if he'd cooperate this time. "Are you going to tell me where it is now?" Pitch's voice was smooth as butter.

The old man's gravelly voice croaked out a "N-no, P-Pitch". He was in the most pain he's ever felt in decades.

Pitch sighed in response, shaking his head. "Well then," he said, "I guess if you don't want to tell me where it is..." He inched his long face closer and closer to the old man with each syllable. "Then I guess you're going to have to die."

The old man gave no emotion to Pitch's threat and continued shivering with fright. "E-even if you d-do kill me," he struggled with every word, "you'll never find the machine anywhere."

In such surprise, Pitch gasped and roared out a manic laugh. "Ahh, _of course_!" Blood was pouring from the old man's chest as Pitch sunk the sword into his heart. The old man's cry of anguish echoed throughout the dark cave.

"P-Please don't do this!"

The sword impaled the old man even further. "Why shouldn't I?"

"B-becau-"

"Because of this?" The old man's eyes widened out of pure horror! Pitch held up a key the size of a pen. It was gold with an accent of greens and turquoise. Tiny stars as well as curvy lines decorated the key like vines hugging an abandoned home. It shined when peaked into the light. "I just wanted to see you struggle," Pitch giggled.

"How did you-"

"This old thing?" Pitch interrupted, gazing lovingly at the key. "I swiped it as I brought you to my humble abode." Pitch raised both of his arms, referring to the dark cave surrounding the two. Shadows as dark as ink plastered every surface, creaky bird cages swung on the ceilings, and eerie howls of moaning cries bled through the walls.

"You wouldn't t-take my machine-e! Y-you don't know how to use it!"

Pitch flashed a devilish grin. "With access to your time machine, all of humanity will bow down to my feet."

And before the old man could make any effort of protest, Pitch jabbed his weapon into the man's heart a little further. the old man gargled his last breath as his head dramatically collapsed to the hard concrete. As Pitch promptly removed the sword from the man's body, the remains disintegrated into golden dust, and blew out of the Nightmare King's sight.

Pitch smirked with delight.

_Father Time had been killed._


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1: Year 2021_

Each night, the sky looked... different. It was still beautiful, but it didn't look like usual. You couldn't see the stars unless you squinted; thunderous clouds blocked the view of the solar system; the moon looked _dimmer_. Jack noticed this as he lied lazily on a sturdy tree branch. Both arms under his head, and one leg perched onto the branch while the other dangled in the air.

"It's sure been quiet around here," Jack called out nonchalantly in hopes he'd get a response from the Man in the Moon. "And it sure is lonely down here," he mentioned with more enthusiasm, but the Moon did not speak, nor did he send any sort of message to Jack Frost. There were moments when the Man in the Moon decided not to respond to anyone, but he always sent the feeling of reassurance to the messenger. This, however, was not the case. Manny was silent, not dead, Jack could tell that, but this wasn't normal. Jack decided that the best thing to do was contact North and the rest of the Guardians about this mystery.

* * *

North's workshop was as busy as normal, Yeti's marching from here to there, carrying giant bags of toys over their shoulders; small elves zooming between legs to get to one place to the next. Buzzing toys and rattling machinery were at work. If anything, the Yeti's and elves seemed to be working extra hard this evening. Sure, it was like this every day of the year, not counting Christmas day, but time felt like it was speeding up.

Jack took his time floating from one part of the workshop to the next in order to find North. He eventually spotted him along with Tooth, Bunnymund, and Sandy in the main hall, frantically arguing with each other.

"_So_, nobody decided to invite me to the party, huh?" Jack teased, head resting on the side of his curved staff.

The Guardians looked Jack's way, every one of them confused to have him in their sight.

Tooth fluttered her translucent wings the frost spirit's way. "Where have you been," Tooth exclaimed. Her cheeks were beat red, and her turquoise feathers ruffled resulting in feathers falling to the wooded floor.

Jack was perplexed. "What are you talking about?" He hasn't heard from the Guardians along with Manny in weeks. He just assumed they were busy with work like they always were.

Bunnymund spoke up, "We've been trying to contact you for weeks now!" Bunny twirled his boomerang between his fingers. He then pointed it at Jack, threateningly, and demanded to know exactly what he'd been up to.

Jack's hands went up in defense, backing away ever so slightly. "I haven't heard from you guys either." He examined the faces of his comrades once more: everyone was pissed. "In fact, I came here just to check up on _you guys," _Jack defended once more.

North was taken aback, "you mean to say that all these messages, all these signals we made, you didn't hear any of them?"

Jack nodded. The room was silent except for the muffled banging on wood and steel in the background.

"That sounds like bullshit to me, mate."

With a twist of his head, Jack stated, "I'm not fucking around this time! I haven't heard anything from you people!"

Bunny posted up his square shoulders, carefully marching Jack's way. "You mean to tell me that every single signal us Guardians sent out, you got nothing? North's lights, Sandy's sand, Toothiana's fairies, _my_ eggs?!"

Now that he thought of it, he hadn't seen Sandman's sand nor any of Toothiana's fairies roaming around at night. Jack shrugged, he didn't know what to say except that he was sorry. What else was he supposed to say? Did they want him to lie so that for once Bunny would be right? Absolutely not! Jack stood his ground once more and made his way towards the 7 foot tall bunny. Tension grew in the atmosphere. It was clear that the two were about to throw some hands.

Before anyone could throw the first punch, North roared out, "Not today, you two! We have enough problems to worry about right now!" Sandman created two lasso's to separate the individuals.

Jack relaxed his figure, no longer looking at Bunny so that his blood doesn't begin to boil again. He escaped the restraints, wiping off excess sand. "What do you guys even want anyway?"

Tooth put her hand on Jack's shoulder. "Pitch is back, and he's stronger than ever." She led the pearl haired man to North's giant globe. The lights that represented every child were flickering frantically. Children in Asia would all go out and then come back on after a minute, America and Mexico's would twinkle frantically. All of Europe's children were burnt out.

"What happened?" Jack's stomach filled with anxiety.

North approached them, also gazing at the terrifying sight. "Chaos, anarchy, riots." North looked down at his feet in disappointment. "It's not just the children that are being affected by it, but the teens and adults as well." The Russian man waved his arm towards the skylight where a big bold moon shined through a chilled night. "He warned us of Pitch's whereabouts."

Bunny's timid ears sunk behind his head muttering "he killed Ombric".

Jack, suddenly forgetting the feud between him and Bunny, turned towards the furry Guardian. "Who's Ombric?"

"Father Time," Tooth prompted. "And now the Nightmare king is going back in time to the Golden Age to get rid of all of us."

Jack's eyes widened, revealing aquamarine iris's. "Is he going to kill our past selves? What's going to happen to everyone?" His shoulders would rise and fall to the beat of his breath.

Jack studied North's wondrous eyes for reassurance. "It's not us we need to worry about," North declared, "we are spirits who have been protecting this earth for thousands of years. Pitch isn't going back in time to kill us because we aren't going to be there. Spirits like us do not mark time in history as mortals do."

Jack composed himself by scratching the back of his neck - something he does when he's nervous - and squeezed his staff tighter in his hand. "Well, what does Manny want us to do about all of this?"

"We're going back in time," North confidently replied, both fists on hips.

"But if we're back in time, who's going to take over now?"

North chuckled and waved his palm in Jack's direction. "Oh Jack Frost," his Russian accent was extra thick, "you forget that we are not the only guardians that wonder this planet." He slapped Jack's back, making him jump. "They already promised to take over while we're gone. Who knows, this battle could take months all the way up to a _few years_." As the optimistic man chuckled, Sandy exchanged worried glances with the rest of the Guardians.

"Welp," North continued, "we better hurry."

As Tooth, Sandy, Bunnymund, and North all marched away in unison, Jack stood in disbelief and confusion. "Wait," he called out, catching up to the group, "you have a time machine?"

North looked back at the frosty young man, holding up a red and green snow globe. "My snow globe can do many things, Jack. " The jolly old spirit threw the globe to the ground, creating a portal to another time. The portal was the size of a tall door, and the perimeter of it gleamed. Jack experimented by gently putting his hand through the portal. It felt like he was putting his hand in a pool of jello, giving him a cool sensation throughout his arm. On the other side, he could hear bells and banging of hammers on nails - It was North's past workshop!

"Well," Bunny said, "What are we waiting for?"

With a sturdy shove, Sandy, the quietest of the group, pushed all of the Guardians through the portal that will send them exactly 176 years into the past. When they all collapsed to the ground, they were greeted by hundreds of armored Yeti's surrounding them. They were waiting...

**Thank you to those who gave me constructive criticism last chapter, I really appreciate it! If you find any errors or just have any suggestions when it comes to grammar and stuff like that, feel free to PM me, I will reply when I can!**

**Thank you for reading! M****ore chapters to come!**


	3. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: Year __1845, Corona_

"I'm sure you all know why I called you this afternoon," Rapunzel insisted.

The conference room held an elongated table that possessed about twenty people. Pairs of eyes seized into Queen Rapunzel's face, noting her every move.

Rapunzel cleared her throat, anxiously fiddling with her short brunette hair. "As you can tell, Corona has been under great fire with a mysterious plague that lurks this kingdom."

Many heads shook in agreement, and the sound of mumbling could be heard throughout the room.

The woman's sun kissed palm raised, signalling her audience to settle down. "I want to know the reason of this," she proceeded.

Boisterous uproar seized the room, and many voices spoke at once. Eugene, who was casually seated near the front of the room, stood up and sent glares to those who dared speak over his wife. When the atmosphere finally came to a civilized manner, Eugene sank back into his chair, silently giving Rapunzel the "okay" to speak again.

With a nod of her head, Rapunzel tried again with more urge. "Is there anybody here that may know the origin to our troubles?"

Silence blanketed the room, but after a few seconds of uncomfortable glances, the prime minister found the yearn to raise his hand. He stood to his feet. A tall fellow he was with slender legs and a slim figure. One hand behind his back, while the other rested in the pocket of his coat. "Your majesty, the streets of Corona have been filled with mischief and anarchy. The unemployment rate has boomed to an all time high, and an increase in deaths have never been higher."

A pool of worried faces filled the room one by one. The Prime Minister spoke once more, "We've checked the stats, and it seems that mental illness has gone up as well..."

"We already know of this, we need solutions, not stats," Flynn commanded, hooking his fingers between the crook of his nose.

The Prime Minister tightened his tie, wheezing into his glove. "A new disease has spread," he said simply, "there is an unknown substance in the water, food, and air."

Restless gasps filled the area, one even slipping out of the Queen's mouth as well.

"Our people are consuming it: elders to _children_."

"How are the farmers? Could it be coming from the live stock," Rapunzel questioned, hand on chin.

Another person stood up, a young woman with chocolate skin with curly hair tied in a bun. Rapunzel recognized the young lady, she was one of her personal advisers. "I've already interviewed with all the local farmers, and they say that whatever this-" she held up a jar filled with an anonymous black liquid "-isn't coming from their land _or_ their animals."

The liquid in the jar resembled tar, and it sparkled like stars in a night sky. Wherever this mysterious thing came from, it somehow managed to get into everyone's digestive system.

The jar of unknown liquid was passed around the table, each person getting an equal amount of time to examine it. Rapunzel and Eugene, however, kept their distance from it to avoid accidentally getting it on their hands. Who knows the true damage this much could do to a single person.

"Where did you find this?" Eugene asked.

The woman said that it was actively coming from rivers and washing up on shore. "Some townsfolk found it coming from rain, and will burn if touched by flesh."

Before Rapunzel could comment, a royal servant burst eagerly through the door. The woman was rapidly panting, sweat dripping down her temples. "Your majesty," she huffed, "you, uh, might want to see this."

Flynn and Rapunzel exchanged looks before sprinting out of the conference room. The team of advisers and politicians followed the royal couple.

With each step Eugene and Rapunzel took, they could hear chanting and obnoxious screaming coming outside of the castle. They heard combat along with the heartbreaking screams of many peasants calling out to their family members. What Rapunzel and Eugene would about to see, they'd never forget for the rest of their lives.

As the royal couple both took a peak behind a narrow window, they found their people wrestling with giant horses, wolves and eagles the color of charcoal. The horses left trails of sand at their feet; the wolves sliced the faces of the townsfolk, bouncing from one individual to the next; the eagles soared throughout the sky, screeching blood wrenching cries, occasionally pecking out the eyes of everyone it came across. They found thunderous murky clouds approaching, consuming the vegetation that was once a green horizon. The dangerous platter of rain could be heard in the distance. In the back of their heads, they knew whatever was in that jar was going to pour down on the heads of their civilians.

"We need to evacuate!" Rapunzel cried, gripping Eugene's sleeve. In mere minutes they heard the sudden explosion of a shrill alarm signalling the people of an evacuation.

Seconds felt like hours as ships were preparing to take off. Each ship holding as much civilians as possible. Rapunzel as well as Eugene were first to take on the sea, escaping from the cries that came from land.

Tears burned through Rapunzel's eyes, and her stomach churned with queasiness. How did they not see this sooner?

Eugene placed a hand on her hip, squeezing his love tightly. "It wasn't your fault. We can get our kingdom back, it'll just take time."

Rapunzel let out a sob, burying her face into his chest. As the ship traveled further and further from land, the Queen's cries grew louder and more frantic. Each tear representing a fallen person at the hands of those mysterious beasts.

And as Eugene looked out to what was once his home, he found that the whole island of Corona was embraced by thick clouds the color of a raven's feather. Not one building could be seen behind the wall of acidic fog.

Could it have been in her head, or did Rapunzel hear the faint cry of an evil chuckle...

* * *

The workshop had the same style as it did in the future. The difference of this one is that the air smelt more of crisp wood and acrylic paint; back when children didn't ask for such complex toys. Unlike the workshop in the future, this one was more colorful, but didn't look as sleek and organised. The atmosphere had an old school feel to it.

"Why are you all like this?" North shouted to the yeti's.

Every tall, short, and chubby yeti that was in the presence of the guardians were covered from head to toe in red metal armor. The tallest of the yeti's spoke in a language Jack couldn't understand.

North massaged his beard, actively thinking of what else to say.

"Manny told you?" Tooth questioned, gesturing towards the same skylight that resembled the one in their time. The yeti shook his head 'yes'.

Bunny's eyes popped as he saw the giant globe that towered over them. The lights of children were flickering more frantic than ever. "All of Germany is out, mate"

The rest of the spirits took a closer look at the phenomena. Those who could fly, stole a closer look at the lights.

Jack declared that it'd be best if they visited Germany, in hopes that they'd find survivors. Tooth, North, Sandy as well as Bunnymund agreed. Immediately, the Guardians wasted no time to aboard North's sleigh, sending themselves off to the Kingdom of Corona.

When they arrived, it was a waste land. Homes and shops were torn down brick by brick. Black dust concealed the concrete paths, leaving foot prints in their tracks. Puddles of black water burnt the nose hairs of those who dared sniff it. They found bodies of men, women and children under rubble and glass. Sandy had attempted to rescue some of them, but alas, they could not find a single survivor. Everyone was dead.

"How did Pitch do all of this?" Tooth cried. Her fingers covered her face in disbelief.

North responded, sulking his head, "Man in Moon warned us that he was stronger than ever. I have no clue how he got this strong."

When it seemed that all had lost hope, Jack got the attention of his friends with optimism in his voice.

"What is it, Jack?" They asked in unison.

The frosty man held up crumpled up pieces of paper that seemed to have scattered the floor. Each was covered in course sand.

_**"Survivors! Come to the kingdom of Arendelle if you wish to be rescued!"**_

The handwriting was rough, and it was clear that whoever wrote these letters were in a rush. Each page had a different style of handwriting, which means there were multiple people handing these out last minute.

"They were evacuated," North muttered, thinking out loud.

"Arendelle? Isn't that across sea?" Bunny questioned, repetitively patting his large foot to the ground.

"Yes," North said, "but I'm not sure the queen will welcome us, which is understandable." The man aggressively shrugged his shoulders.

Tooth cradled her stomach, "the Snow Queen? She's very reserved, it's unlikely she'd let strange newcomers like us into her kingdom." Tooth flashed her amethyst eyes to the group. "Unless..."

The group's eyes rested on Jack Frost, who was already shaking his head in confusion.

"You know any Norwegian, Jack?"


	4. Chapter 3

_**Update: **_**While going over my outline, I realized that I unintentionally made plot holes that _honestly_ no one would've noticed except for me. For example, near the end of the last chapter I suggested that Jack has no idea who Elsa is, when really if you did all of the complicated math and research for the setting of all three movies (Tangled, Frozen and ROtG), you'd come to a conclusion that Jack obviously would have known who Elsa was. I could get into what I mean, but that would take me forever and not only confuse you, the reader, but myself even more.**

**So, what I'm trying to say is, I went back to the 2 previous chapters and changed up the times and what not. I just got rid of the parts at the end of the chapter where Jack goes, "SnOw QuEeN? iS tHaT SoMe SoRt Of WeIrD NiCkNaMe?". If you've been an active reader for awhile, then there's no need to reread the two chapters because it wasn't that much that changed. If you're still confused, here are the times and ages of I decided for everyone:**

**Present (Burgess) - 2021, 9 years after the ROtG movie**

**Past (Arendelle, _where we are now_) - 1845, 6 years after the Frozen movie**

**Ages:**

**Jack: 326**

**Elsa: 27**

**Kristoff: 27**

**Anna: 24**

**Rapunzel: 27**

**Eugene: 33**

* * *

A blue and crimson sky peaked at Kristoff and Sven through orange trees. As they traveled along a dirt path, a chilly fall breeze blew into their noses, making them sniffle. Tall trees surrounded the two as they listened to the soft whistle of birds, and the sudden scatter of woodland creatures. Kristoff had missed the simple pleasures of walking through nature with his best friend, and when they heard of a Sculpting Festival south of Norway, they couldn't pass up the opportunity. For the few days they traveled, the pair escaped the overwhelming pressures of castle life. Although life in Arendelle was an upgrade from hauling around ice on their shoulders, they had secretly missed the company of fallen leaves and squirrels at their footstep.

The ride back to Arendelle would take extra long, but to Kristoff that was a blessing. Sven carried a compartment on his back filled with knickknacks from the festival, while the burly blonde carried a sack filled to the brim with carrots. The pair cared nothing of those that passed every once in a while; families, merchants, even traveling fortune tellers. But they did come across two sketchy men that put an odd feeling in Kristoff's stomach.

"Arendelle," one of them had said, voice deep and monotone. They were twins with red hair and foreheads stained with sweat.

Kristoff hadn't recognized them. "Uhh," he stumbled then prompted "north".

The sturdy twins exchanged glances at one another, and without a word, marched south.

Kristoff sighed in relief when they were out of sight. He was heading home up north, and would have hated to spend the next twelve hours along side those threatening men. Sven blew out his nose, peering up towards his friend.

"Maybe they'll find their way," Kristoff reassured, gesturing the reindeer onward. "Soon enough they'll realize that they're going the wrong way and turn around." Kristoff scrunched his face at what he said. He _really_ didn't want those chilling men to follow him, and his face grew cold of just the thought of them on their heels.

With a gentle nudge, Kristoff had signaled Sven to move faster, so he can finally be in the safe arms of his loving fiancee.

* * *

Back at the castle, Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel and Eugene were greeted by a servant offering steaming hot tea. Each of them had accepted the friendly gesture, and continued lounging in the grand hall. Rapunzel, Eugene along with their people were invited by Elsa and Anna to stay in their kingdom until they could figure out how to get Corona back running again. The people of Corona would stay in shelters until further notice.

Rapunzel's forehead creased at the thought of her kingdom in ruins. "I don't know how it happened," she sighed, "it just came out of nowhere."

Elsa patted her cousin's back in empathy. "It's not your fault," she soothed. "It came from shore, right? So there must be a disease coming from the fish."

Rapunzel huffed and stood from her seat, face growing pink. "But it's not," she stated with an urge to her voice. Her stomach churned and her limbs tingled. "Whatever that was, it came from some..." the short brunette tensed up trying to recall what she saw the other day. "S-some evil being. That was definitely not caused by nature. Someone's behind this."

Anna hugged herself, easing the goosebumps that explored her body. "How could someone be that strong," the strawberry blonde muttered. "Why would someone want to wipe out an entire kingdom?"

Rapunzel shrugged her shoulders aggressively. She was now pacing about the room. "I-I don't know," she groaned, "power?" The short woman suddenly stopped and peered her eyes into Elsa's, the only other magic wielding being in the room. "Think about it!" She scurried next to Elsa, looking deeper into her cousin's crystal blue eyes. "Me and you-" she grasped both of Elsa's cool hands, guiding her to stand up "-we were born with magic! It's not entirely crazy that someone were to use their abilities for evil."

Elsa's cheeks burnt up, and her face fell to the ground. "What makes you think this was caused by someone else anyway?"

Rapunzel slowly let go of Elsa's grip, and rubbed her elbows. Her emerald eyes began to burn with tears, but she tried sucking them up to avoid embarrassment. "I heard someone..."

Anna's ears perked. "Who?"

Rapunzel pursed her thin lips together, avoiding eye contact with the sisters. "I don't know, but..."

Eugene quickly approached his wife, resting his chin on her head.

Elsa, sensing Rapunzel's lack of comfort, offered her more tea. The brunette responded by shaking her head. She didn't want to stop talking about the issue because it needed to be addressed. Elsa grew worried that the evil creature Rapunzel and Eugene described would migrate towards Arendelle. What would they do if that were the case? The Snow Queen refused to let the conversation die down.

"If you can just describe these... creatures to Anna and I, maybe we could fight them."

Rapunzel vigorously shook her head. "And get killed?!" Rapunzel escaped Eugene's hug to grab at Elsa's shoulders. "Did you even hear what I said about these things killing nearly half of my people?! They will rip you - _all_ of us to shreds!" Rapunzel's breathing became more and more rapid with every word.

"Yes, bu-"

Elsa expected her cousin to interrupt her once more, but was surprised when one of the castle butlers timidly spoke over the queen.

"Your majesty?" The butler was short of height, but stood tall in confidence. "You have visitors," he said with his mustache slightly muffling his words.

Elsa nonchalantly waved her palm in his direction, not bothering making eye contact with the short man. "Tell the local tradesmen that I have no interest in speaking with them at the moment."

As she turned her face back towards Rapunzel and Eugene, the butler spoke up once more. He fiddled his thumbs and said, "they come to speak about the rather... _mysterious_... creatures that lurk Corona at the moment."

The four majesties perked up their shoulders in disbelief. Each of their faces showed no sign of emotions that was expressed a few minutes ago.

"Who are they," Anna asked, brows furrowed.

The butler relaxed his spine, trying to come up with a way to describe them. He sunk his neck. "They claim to go by... _the __Guardians_."

Anna and Elsa exchanged perplexed expressions. Neither one of them have heard of a group that went by that name.

Cautiously, Anna stepped forward with her hands behind her back. "I will greet them."

The butler coughed into his palm. "They asked specifically for the Queen."

"Why do they want me," Elsa asked, crisscrossing her arms. Her eyebrow raised in suspicion.

The butler wondered his eyes about the room, not exactly knowing how to say it. "They think you can help them. They also control magic, your highness."

Rapunzel's face grew in optimism. "We have to talk to them, Elsa! They could help us get our kingdom back!"

Elsa's raised her chest. "I guess that's the only choice we have."

* * *

The Guardians waited patiently outside the castle doors, each of them fidgeting nervously to meet the Snow Queen, Jack especially. He bit his lips, causing embarrassing red marks to show up on his chin. His face burnt a deeper maroon with every long minute the castle guards took.

Tooth gently placed a hand on his hood. "Have you heard of the Snow Queen before, Jack?" She could sense anxiety haunting him.

Jack shrugged looking down. "Well, yes..." His shoulders shivered and Toothiana's palms fell to her sides. "I know _of_ her, but I've never met her."

Bunny spoke up, "you were still a spirit around this time, right Jack? Why didn't you introduce yourself sooner?"

Jack looked to his feet, kicking a pebble. "When Arendelle was frozen over, I tried talking to her, but because of the language barrier, her army of snowmen to protect her, and the fact that I was still invisible, it just never happened."

"Well, even after Arendelle got back to normal, you could've at least tried saying something," Bunny retorted.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I couldn't, she was assassinated a few years after that."

Suddenly, the castle doors creaked open, surprising the five spirits. The Guardians were greeted by three intimidating guards and a single woman. She had a slim figure, but her stature was tall. Her hair was in red pigtails, and her dress was a soft green lined with white designs. The woman's skin was rosy, and delicate freckles scattered her face. The woman held out her hand and said, "Princess Anna."

North firmly shook her hand, noticing how fragile her wrist was. "I am Santoff Claussen, better known as Santa Clause. But you can call me North."

Anna nodded her head, gesturing towards the rest of the visitors.

"Bunny," he waved.

"And I'm Toothiana," she fluttered, "this is Sandy." Tooth indicated her arm towards the small golden man. Sandy gently shook Anna's hand in response.

Anna peered her aqua eyes into Jack's. She noticed the small trail of frost at his feet, and the staff he gripped in his hands. Jack noted how Anna quirked a smile at him, eagerly waiting for him to shake her hand.

He took her palm, saying, "I'm Jack Frost."

"It's nice to meet you, Jack." She crossed her arms, inspecting him. "Why haven't we seen any of you around before?"

North said that it was because of how busy they were all the time, but for Jack it was a different case. In this time, Jack didn't have much responsibility like his fellow comrades did. There wasn't much for him to do before becoming an official Guardian since it naturally snowed on its own. Some argued that it was pointless for Jack to have the ability to control snow for the reason that it wasn't needed. It would be like that for Jack for three-hundred years until he gave the official Guardian oath. After that day, it stopped snowing on its own, forcing Jack to take on many responsibilities.

Anna stood to the side, inviting the strange newcomers in. The Guardians silently followed the bodyguards and Anna to an elongated conference room. The furniture had tiny details inscribed into every crevice. The room was filled with muted greens and browns with the occasional red accent. All five Guardians claimed seats around a long table. Anna had then scurried out of the room, promising to be back soon.

After two minutes of patiently waiting, the door swung open, and a handful of armored guards marched into the room one by one. They then stood in a neat line facing forward in the front of the room. After that, one by one the people that the Guardians had been waiting for crept in. First Anna, then Rapunzel, Eugene, and last but certainly not least, Elsa the Snow Queen. Everyone in the room had noticed how the temperature decreased dramatically. Wind gently caressed the cheeks of those who watched Elsa's every movement.

Elsa had may her way to the seat at the very end of the table. Anna, Rapunzel along with Eugene took their seat after. Elsa scanned the visitors, noting every detail about them. Tooth's bright feathers; Sandy's glowing sand; Bunny's soft fur; North's long beard. But Jack was different. Elsa had taken her sweet time, making lots of mental notes. She noticed his silver hair, the pasty skin, his sapphire eyes. She even took notes of how the smallest of snowflakes surrounded his body.

Anna had gently nudged her sister, helping her escape from her trance. She didn't realize that she had been starring at the newcomers for quite some time now.

"I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle. State your business."

* * *

The evening crept over the the mountains and hilltops with rays of pink and yellow. Kristoff and Sven had been walking all day with no break so their knees began to feel wobbly. Sven with heavy eyelids groaned in protest, begging Kristoff to let them sleep for the rest of the night. But they both knew that if they traveled a few hours more, then they'd be able to reach Arendelle in no time.

"I know, buddy," Kristoff whispered, placing a fresh carrot in Sven's mouth, "but just a bit longer, and we'll be home. Anna's probably worried sick."

Sven scoffed, communicating to Kristoff that he was tired and that Anna could sure as hell wait one more night. Kristoff only responded by giving his reindeer friend a friendly pat on the back.

As they slumped forward, they could hear the satisfying crunch of leaves under their feet. The suspenseful night haunted of crickets and frogs singing in the background. But something was off.

They stepped.

_Crunch, crunch..._

They stepped again.

_Crunch, crunch, crunch..._

They were being followed.

In a swift motion, Kristoff climbed on Sven's back and demanded him to run. Sven, suddenly not so tired anymore, galloped towards the mountains like there was no tomorrow. As they both puffed, their breath became visible in the chilly air. Wind roared into their ears as Sven ran faster and faster.

_Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch!_

Kristoff, was afraid to turn his neck in fear that it would be the strange twins from earlier that day. Alas, he found that his instincts were right. The burly twins gave up hiding, and instead watched Kristoff and Sven ride off into the distance. They gave no sign that they were going to chase after them. Their silhouettes faded into the distance and a blade that one of the twins held reflected into Kristoff's eyes. What did they want? Money? Their carrots?

Someone's life was in danger, and Kristoff was going to make sure that it wasn't going to be his.


	5. Chapter 4

Everyday was filled with the torture of being trapped behind the bars of his cell and mind. The prison cell was always dark except for the occasional flashlight the guards would wave around at them. Every night he'd hear the soft cries of inmates praying, and during the day he'd listen to the blood wrenching screams of his own head. No way of escaping, no hope for happiness; every ounce of life he had was once gone. He contemplated whether or not he should just end it all. However if he did, he'd never get to know if his plan actually worked. The only thing he wanted to hear before they put him down was that Queen Elsa was dead.

The day that he encountered his brothers for the first time in years was the day he decided that there might be some hope. He wasn't excited to see them, but he was happy when he found out that they could somehow help him.

_Hundreds of black and white striped inmates populated the courtyard with outdoor equipment. The humid heat suffocated their lungs with dust and dirt. Sounds of clinking chains on ankles filled the ears of many._

_"How did you end up in here?" He asked them with beads of sweat running down his forehead. One of the brother's sneered at Hans, rubbing at his eye patch._

_"What's it to you," the other snapped, dropping his shovel to crack his knuckles. He was slowly making his way towards him until the clink of the chains signaled the guards of commotion._

_"Stabbington! You stop talking to W__estergaard or it's no dinner for all of you," one guard bellowed from the distance. The twins gave one last look at their younger brother, then continued shoveling at the dry dirt._

_After a few more minutes of hard labor, Hans spoke up again with more confidence. "Ya know-" he grunted as the shovel stabbed the ground "-I can help you... that is if you can help me." The tall ginger flew the dirt behind him, whispering "I can make it to where your identities can be cleared. Nobody will know who you are."_

_The twins paused at their work, and without a word, perked their ears up. _I got em now_, he thought._

_Hans buried his foot into the ground, facing the twins with a devilish smirk. "I just need you to do this one thing for me... then you'll be free men."_

That day on, Hans had to prove to his older brothers that he could get them what they wanted. How was he going to wipe their identities with such little contact outside the prison? Well, the thing is, he wasn't! He didn't know any special guy outside the Dutch Prison, and he most definitely couldn't find any way to clear their names. If that troubling red head knew anything about his older twin brothers, it's that they were laughably moronic. Either that, or he's just a talented actor... or both.

The days went by, and soon that turned into months. His brothers had found a way to escape with the help of Hans. He couldn't escape himself for the reason that he wouldn't survive a day without getting caught; his face was too well known. But the Stabbington twins was a different story. They knew how to conceal their identities long enough for them to escape any situation, and that's all they needed in order to assassinate the Queen of Arendelle.

Hans rested his body on the concrete bed which was supported by old thick chains attached to the wall. His body relaxed, and he began thinking of someplace that wasn't this nightmare. Maybe a small cottage, or an abandoned warehouse. Anywhere but here. As his limbs loosened, and his skin washed away of goosebumps, Hans drifted to sleep.

Suddenly, right as he thought he had finally escaped from hell, his body jolted up when he heard something strange coming down the hall. It shrieked and groaned as it crept closer and closer. Nothing was heard except for the faint sound of footsteps getting louder and louder. But suddenly, it paused...

Only the sound of Hans' heartbeat could be heard through the uneasy silence. He held his breath as his throat clenched tightly as if someone was attempting to strangle him. Slowly, he curled himself into the corner of the stiff bed, waiting for what the mysterious creature had in store for him.

The tapping of feet started again, but this time it wasn't coming towards him. He heard a large metal door creek open and the struggles of someone telling them to stop.

_"Please no... ack!"_

Hans gripped his shirt as the sound of snapping echoed down the hall.

Soon after, he heard more loud pleads as the creature made its way close. Hans' neighboring inmate's neck snapped, and the feet finally made its way outside of his cell.

"Go on," Hans screamed, spit escaping his lips. "Just kill me already! I don't care if I die anyway!"

No response.

Hans took the opportunity to stand to his feet, making his way towards the middle of the room. He stood tall with his chest puffed out intimidatingly. "Come at me you son of a bitch!"

"How rude of you to speak to a guest like that."

Hans jumped and twisted his body around. His fists were up in a fighting position, ready to swing at the mysterious voice. "W-who are you," he asked with a cracked voice.

"I," said a British voice. Suddenly a figure appeared in front of the ginger, towering over him. "I am Pitch Black, the Nightmare King," Pitch cooed with more emphasis on the word "king".

Hans' shoulders relaxed, and his fists dropped to his sides. "What do you want from me?" His heart rate still beating at an extraordinary rate.

The Nightmare King snickered with a sinister look. He couldn't see his face properly due to the lack of light, but was barely able to make out his facial features: long chin, grey skin, yellow glowing eyes.

"It's not what I want, it's what you want," Pitch giggled, inching his face towards Hans.

"What?"

Pitch circled Hans about the room, lightly brushing his shoulders. "The Queen of Arendelle to drop dead. You want her dead, right?"

Hans' eyes grew big, and he shifted his feet towards the tall mad man. "Who told you?!"

Pitch snickered in amusement once more. "Oh please," Pitch said with pity in his voice, "I just want what you want."

"What are you talking about?"

Pitch stopped circling the man, resting his figure in front of him. "What I'm saying is... I can make that come true." Pitch raised his arms out. "Do you want to be trapped in this hell hole forever?"

Hans looked around, taking in the same walls he's starred at for years on end. He knew how many bricks made up this room, what color each of them were, and what part of the room was the warmest even on the coldest days. He despised his living conditions, and just the thought of being in here another second longer made him throw up in his mouth.

"No..."

The black figure in front of him smirked. "Exactly. You already know those idiotic brothers of yours can't do the job on their own. So why not do it for them?" Pitch tightly gripped at his arms. "Do what you could've done _years_ ago."

Hans exhaled out his nose, glancing at the corner of the room. "What's in it for you?"

"Ha! Oh, I already have what I need." After Pitch uttered those words, the sound of snarling wolves surrounded the room. The faint squeak of rats could be heard from under the floors, and the screech of hawks echoed outside. "I just need one little thing."

Hans shifted uneasily on his feet. "And what's that?"

"I need to borrow your body."

* * *

"I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle. State your business."

North eagerly shifted in his seat. "Right," he huffed, "I am North, your highness." He then outstretched his arm towards his friends saying, "and this is Sanderson, E. Aster Bunnymund, Toothiana, and that's Jack Frost." With enthusiasm, North cracked a wide smile, "We are the Guardians, sent to you by the Man in Moon!"

The group acknowledged the Queen, except for Jack who was thoroughly examining Elsa. He slouched in his chair, holding his palms in the pocket of his jacket.

Elsa arched her back in confidence, lifting her chin. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." The blonde squinted her eyes at the obnoxious man sitting at the opposite end of the table, referring to North. "What does this 'Man in Moon' want from us?"

"What does he want?" North's voice grew loud as he studied everyone. "Man in Moon wants all of us to fight the evil soul that threatens this planet!"

Rapunzel's shoulders perked as his words shot from his loud mouth. "You mean the evil spirit that murdered more than half of my people?!"

Bunny leaned back in his seat with arms crossed. "That's right. His name is Pitch Black, and he's responsible for the destruction of Corona and for those to come."

The short brunette gasped behind her hand, turning towards her cousin. "I told you this was coming from someone evil, Els-"

Elsa, still sinking her eyes into North's, raised her palm in Rapunzel's direction. A part of her stopped Rapunzel from speaking because it wasn't the time to point fingers, but also because she was slightly embarrassed. Elsa's cheeks burned a rosy pink. She hated being wrong, especially in the presence of guests... just like herself.

Rapunzel slowly backed into her seat, resting her chin on her neck. Now she was embarrassed for attempting to provoke Elsa.

Tooth, sensing the tension, brought the subject back on track. "You see, the Man in the Moon guided us here so that we can protect you from Pitch. If we can just figure out a way to help each other out, the Nightmare King will stand no chance against us." Her gaze was loving like that of a mothers. Her smile was full of empathy.

Before Rapunzel could respond, Elsa raised her strong voice. "And what exactly does Pitch Black want from us?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, Bunnymund murmured, "Manny says he wants eternal darkness, and the only way to achieve that is by starting at the weakest part of the Golden Age."

"The Golden Age?" Anna questioned with a raised brow.

"Yes," North boomed, grabbing at his hefty belly. "This is what us Guardians consider the weakest era of the Golden Age. It's difficult to find magic wielders because they're all in hiding. They're afraid of not just the nightmare king, but mostly of themselves."

Elsa dropped her eyes down to her folded hands. She was unconsciously creating bits of frost at her fingertips, and she could feel her toes getting cramped by the snow building up in her heals. What North said reminded Elsa of the days where she was forced to conceal her powers. The times where she was taught to fear what she later realized was a gift. Even though she recovered from the perplexity of her magic, in the back of her head she still grew anxious of what her powers could do. What happens if she ends up hurting someone again, someone she loves? When she was a child, she remembered the joys of her awesome creations, but in the midst of her confidence, she nearly killed Anna. One small hiccup could destroy the entire continent if she's not careful.

Jack, noticing Elsa's discomfort, spoke up with a cough. "Um, but it doesn't have to be that way."

Elsa shot her eyes at Jack who hadn't said anything until now. She noticed how his voice was as smooth as honey, that every syllable he sounded out was clear yet deep.

"We're here to help you. We'll do whatever it takes to protect you guys." The frosty man wasn't slouching anymore, but leaning on the edge of his seat.

Elsa took a deep breath. "Thank you, but we're gonna have to get back to you on that."

Alas, the entire room was filled with deep conversation of Pitch. Rapunzel and Eugene shot questions here and there that would benefit the state of Corona; however, the majority of the discussion was mainly focused on what the Guardians could do to stop Pitch's plans. Anna would chime in here and there, adding to the intriguing conversation. Once in a while she'd ask unrelated questions about what the Guardians did on a regular basis. Jack even found Elsa stealing quick glances in his direction when she thought he wasn't looking.

Eventually the topic of Ombric, Father Time, was thought of, and how Pitch stole his time machine. Eyebrows all around the room were raised, even that of the guards who remained emotionless through the hours they talked.

"You all came from the future? But how?" Eugene questioned. His eyes lit up with unbelief, but also with amusement.

The Guardians explained to the four majesties of North's snow globe, and how it could do many things; moving from place to place, time travel, etc... They informed them of what time in the future was like, how technology as well as the way people thought evolved. The spirits enlightened the group of how they'd all come to live long and healthy lives. That is until the subject of Elsa's mysterious assassination revealed itself.

"You mean to tell me that I'm going to be murdered? By whom?"

Tooth explained, "nobody knows who the killer was, your highness. It's been an unsolved mystery for decades." The fairies eyes were sympathetic, yet sorrowful.

Elsa bit at her lip, and fiddled with her nails. "Could it have been Pitch?"

"No, because this is the first time he's ever gotten hold of Ombric's machine."

The spirits continued to tell them all they knew, even giving them theories of who it could be. And yet again, the discussion went on and on until contagious yawns were exchanged throughout the table.

Elsa's eyes found the clock that hung above the wooden conference door. It was nearly nine-thirty. Where had the time gone? They still had so much more to say! Not to mention that Elsa and Anna had other castle duties to attend to before bed.

North roared with optimism as he stood. "Great, I'm glad we could finally meet!" The white bearded man scurried over to shake the Queen's hand. His entire palm engulfed her small hand. "When can we meet again?"

Elsa hesitated, so Anna spoke for her. "Tomorrow before breakfast would be absolutely _delightful_! Thank you all for coming."

And with that, the Guardians stood up one by one, exiting the conference room. Each of them exchanged hearty compliments and farewells to the royal group. Jack hesitated, for he was the last to get up from his chair. As he was about to be escorted out by one of the castle guards, Elsa found herself asking him to wait.

He turned his neck to find the pale woman behind him. She was satisfyingly surprised by how tall he was. She expected him to be shorter by the way he slouched in his seat. Even the curvy staff he gripped in his fingers was taller than her.

"Yes?" He said, turning to fully face the champagne haired woman.

She faltered her words, asking, "is there really someone planning to kill me, or are the five of you messing with me?"

Jack was taken aback, sort of offended that she would assume that they were fucking with her brain. Why would they spend hours of their day informing her of everything they knew about the topic? The frosty young man fidgeted with the hem of his sweatshirt. "I can assure you, your majesty, that we aren't planning anything sinister. We're just here to help."

Elsa, who was picking at her french braid, sheepishly dropped her eyes to the floor. Scrunching her eyebrows, she grabbed at the bridge of her nose. "I apologize, it's just..." She didn't know how to put it, usually it was so easy to express her thoughts.

Jack understood. Whatever she was going through, the Guardians, without a doubt unintentionally added to her stress meter. He didn't know what it was like running a kingdom, let alone run himself. For over the three-hundred years he's roamed the earth, he's never been responsible for the well being of another person. Sure Jack has taken care of Babytooth - one of Toothiana's closest fairies - but it wasn't on a daily basis.

"...I've never had _this_ much stress put onto my shoulders all at once before. Arendelle, Corona, Anna, _myself_!" She continued to avoid eye contact with him. "I'm just really paranoid."

"It's alright," he said, "if you ever need anything from us, just look up to the Man in the Moon, and tell him to send us. It's our job to worry about everyone anyway."

Elsa finally found the courage to look up at him. But when she did, she felt a slight queasiness in her stomach. Her throat felt like it was closing up.

Jack, not knowing whether he should say something or not, turned his body to face the door. He didn't want to leave the group waiting for him. As Jack silently waved a goodbye to Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel and Eugene, the guard escorted him out. As he made his way out of the conference room, Elsa briefly - just briefly - found Jack presenting her a cute lopsided smirk before the door closed.

Elsa shook her head to clear her mind of over flowing thoughts. She turned to the last standing guard in the room. "Call in extra guards, and keep on the lookout for intruders."

The guard nodded his chin, marching swiftly out of the room.

The only thing left on the agenda was to sleep.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! This chapter was extremely difficult to write, especially since I've been feeling out of it lately. I've been constantly scratching out scenes that seem unnecessary and filling them with more scenes that I'd eventually cut out. That is one of the main reasons why it took so long to write... that and because this chapter is about 3,000 words. But even though this chapter was the death of me, I really enjoy writing this story, and I hope you all are as entertained as I am! :)**

**Also important to note:**

**One of you lovely reviewers mentioned that Rapunzel should be 27, and you're completely right! I don't know how I managed to skim over that, so I went back and fixed her age! Thank you!**

**Also, thank you to my personal friend, iamalosercorn, for critiquing my chapters! You've heard this from me so many times, but your constructive criticism is really appreciated!**

**Also, Guest reviewer, Nikolai, thank you for reviewing and keeping up with the story! Your reviews always put a smile across my face, so thank you so much for that :) !**

**See you in the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 5

Light of the bright moon shined on Kristoff and Sven's face. They had finally made it back home from the festival, and their legs were ready to collapse at any moment. Their lungs were exhausted from running from those mysterious twins, so they were lucky to make it back sooner than they thought.

Kristoff walked Sven back to the royal stables where a few of the castle workers pampered the reindeer. Sven was brushed, cleaned and fed fresh carrots from Kristoff's bag. Before they knew it, the reindeer dozed off into a restful slumber.

The stables were quiet, except for the restless shuffling of stablemen taking care of the other animals. Lanterns as well as the soft rays of the moon brightened the dingy area. Smells of hay, dirt and horses saturated the stalls of many. Kristoff was uncertain whether he wanted to go inside the castle or hide away in Sven's dusty stall. He did miss the quality time he spent with Sven, but at the same time, he yearned to be in the arms of his future wife.

As Kristoff turned to make his way out of the royal stables, he was greeted by a squeaky "hey" from behind him.

The stable boy seemed to be in his early teens, short of height with an awkward mustache growing on his top lip. The boy timidly took off his woolen hat, scrunching it in his clammy hands. He looked down at his battered shoes with a glint in his eyes. "I'm sorry to disturb you, sir. Um... it's just..."

Kristoff raised the corner of his lip and rested a hand on his bony shoulder. "You can call me Kristoff," he chuckled, "trust me, kid. I'm not as high up on the food chain as you might think." He pointed a thumb at the castle behind him, referring to Elsa, Anna and all the of other high class families that grew up with special privileges.

The boy sunk his chest, letting out a slightly relieved sigh. He squeezed his hat as if he was wringing it out, tripping a little on his shoes. Kristoff could tell he wasn't used to being around anyone related to royalty despite the fact that he brushed and fed their horses.

"What's bothering ya, big guy?"

"Well, uhh..." the boy muttered, actively avoiding eye contact. "I was told to inform you to keep on the lookout for intruders."

Kristoff elevated his eyebrows, blinking profusely. He crossed his arms, saying, "what do you mean?"

The kid bit his lip. "I'm not sure if you heard while you were away, but there's been news of a threat to Queen Elsa. That and most likely the entire kingdom of Arendelle. They already destroyed Corona."

Kristoff was taken aback. _Could this have something to do with those twins_, Kristoff thought as he bit his thumbnail. The more he thought of the strange encounter, the more it made sense. How he's never seen them before; how they followed him; how they had a _knife._

The blonde let out a shaky breath, then swiftly made his way out of the stables, muttering a nervous "thank you" before he closed the doors.

The castle halls were darker than usual, and Kristoff noticed more guards standing about every corner he came across. His feet echoed throughout the dimmed hallways, getting exaggerated shushes from every maid he passed. When he finally arrived to his destination, he abruptly creaked open Anna's door, startling a fatigued red head.

"What the hell?!" Anna hissed as she shot up from her bed. Bright strands of hair stood from every part of her head, and her under eyes screamed for more sleep. "Kristoff, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be back by tomorrow morning?" She grumbled, rubbing her drowsy eyes.

Kristoff, throwing his bag of belongings to the other side of the room, hurriedly took Anna in his arms. "I'm so happy to see you," he whispered.

Anna, squeezing back, muttered, "I missed you too. Why are you back so early?" She loosened her grasp on his shoulders, then looked up at him. Kristoff kneeled to the ground so that he was nose to nose with Anna who was still sitting on the bed.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows in concern.

It took Anna a few seconds to process what he had said. "W-what are you talking about? Of course we're-" Her eyes shot open, remembering that evening with the Guardians. _"Call in extra guards, and keep on the lookout for intruders,"_ is what Elsa had said before she disappeared into her room for the night.

"You heard."

Her fiance's shoulders shuddered. "Anna, what happened while I was gone?" His face went white.

Anna relaxed her figure, almost collapsing back onto her pillow out of drowsiness. Her head shifted to the side with strands of hair falling down her back. She gazed sorrowfully into his pecan eyes. "Someone wants Elsa dead." Her eyes went glassy. "My sister, Kristoff. Someone wants to kill my sister." Her throat tightened, and her stomach clenched with nausea.

"I know, I know, but by who?" He eagerly shook her shoulders.

Anna shrugged as she nodded her head. She summed up what had happened to Corona, the meeting with the group calling themselves "the Guardians", and the prophecy of Elsa's fate. They didn't know much about the assassination from what the Guardians told them. According to them, it was an ongoing mystery for years. There were few clues to who might've did it, but all in all, it would remain an unsolved mystery for centuries to come. However, now that they were aware of the threat, they could take extra precautions to avoid that from ever happening.

Anna placed her palm in his, asking, "did you see anything while you were away?"

"I might've. There were these men, and they had a knife-"

"_A knife?!_" Anna gasped behind her hand.

"Yes, and they asked Sven and I for directions to Arendelle-"

Anna grasped Kristoff's face. "Please don't tell me you gave it to them!"

Kristoff scrunched his nose, and widened his nostrils. He was too afraid to give Anna the answer she was expecting.

With a roll of her eyes, she escaped from the sheets of the king sized bed, then began to put her hair into a tall ponytail.

Kristoff followed her with his eyes, sitting on the edge of the empty bed. "Where are you going?" It was his turn to ask the questions.

Not bothering to answer, she blanketed a blue heavy cardigan over her shoulders. She still had her satin nightgown on when she slid on her grungy boots. Her outfit was most definitely not fit for a princess, although it wasn't the time to be critical of what she was wearing. "Kristoff," she huffed as she struggled to put on her other boot, "is there any chance that these men are inside the castle right now?"

Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, they were following us, so..." He struggled to finish the rest of his statement when he felt a pit in his stomach. "Maybe?" He squeaked with a cringed face.

"Come on," Anna demanded, picking up a candle. "We don't have much time to spare."

The couple scurried throughout the castle halls, banging on every door they came across. They hollered, "wake up! Wake up!" until Rapunzel, Eugene, along with all of the castle staff surrounded the two maniacs. Everyone's eyes bulged from their heads, coming to aid the frantic couple. Nobody wanted to admit it, but in the back of their minds, they knew exactly what Kristoff and Anna were screaming about.

"What happened? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Eugene exclaimed, jumping from Rapunzel, Anna and Kristoff, then eventually back to his wife.

"There's a chance that Elsa's killers could be in the castle as we speak," Kristoff prompted to the group of castle guards and maids.

A roar of distraught murmurs filled the area in response to Kristoff. Waves of guards took out their swords in unison, and the maids began to gasp and shriek.

"Where are they?" Rapunzel demanded. Goosebumps traveled throughout her skin.

"We don't _exactly _know," responded Anna. "Kristoff said there were these strange men following him with a weapon, so we're not taking any chances."

Kristoff piped up, "They were these really tall twins. They had red hair, and one of them had-"

"An eye patch?" Eugene interrupted with a curious expression.

"Yeah." Kristoff then raised his eyebrow, pointing at Eugene. "Wait, Flynn. You know these guys?"

Rapunzel shrieked, running her hands through her walnut hair. "The Stabbington Brothers," she growled through gritted teeth. Rapunzel looked around at the surrounding area to find an empty glass vase atop an end table. She grabbed hold of it, then swung it behind her shoulder like a baseball bat, water and flowers escaping the vase. "Those sons a bitches better not touch Elsa," she snarled.

"Speaking of Elsa," Anna gaped, "Where is she?"

A sudden realization struck the area that Elsa had not come out of her room to inspect Anna and Kristoff's ruckus like everyone else did. She would've heard them, they were yelling as if they were shot in the leg. The feeling of panic and worry planted their faces. They all turned on their heals in sync towards Elsa's bedroom door. Thoughts of a dead Queen trickled into their minds, only making their legs speed up.

When they all finally reached Elsa's room, they found the door to be locked. Everyone banged, screamed, cried for the Queen to wake up, unlock her door.

Anna's vision went blurry with each second that passed. She jimmied the door handle, banging her fists against the wood like she's never done before. Years of locked doors in front of her face, years of being closed off by doors. Doors. Doors! _Doors! All t__hese stupid locked doors! _They promised no more locking the doors, no more closing each other off, but here Anna is, kicking the wooden surface that keeps her sister locked away from her. Here she is in the same position she was when she was a little girl.

_Elsa! Lets go outside and play!_

Yet here she is.

_Come on! It's snowing for the first time in forever!_

With ear piercing screams, kicking at it.

_I haven't seen you in days!_

Punching at the wood. Scratching at the blue patterns painted on it.

_-In weeks!_

Throwing her whole body against it.

_-Months._

Making everyone back away in astonishment from both her and the battered surface.

_-Years..._

Grabbing at the vase Rapunzel held, smashing it to pieces against the lock.

_Elsa, I know you're in there... I'm right out here for you..._

Making her nails bleed by picking up every last piece of glass, and throwing it at the door.

_Just let me in... we only have each other..._

She collapsed to the ground weakly, getting cut by the glass at the floor. Her heart thumped quicker then any horse race. Horrific wailing made their ears want to bleed, but they were too shocked to cover them. Her head rested against the beaten up door. They were too late, she was too late. This is how it all started, and this is how it all ended.

The door creaked open leisurely, making Anna's head almost fall to the scattered glass. It was so swift, so unexpected, as if the one opening the door was that of the wind. They all froze at the ghostly sight of Elsa's room like the whole world was put on pause.

They expected Elsa to reveal herself with open arms, saying, "hey, guys! It's me, it's me! I'm okay!" But that scenario only existed in a perfect world. Instead, they were greeted with a dimly lit room, with the only access of light being that of the bold moon from the balcony.

Kristoff stumbled behind Anna with a lantern in his shaking hand. The light of the candle would show that Elsa's room was scattered with blood and ice between every corner. Large shards of ice hung from the ceiling, and inches of snow blanketed the ground. The snow showed footprints of different sizes, small and big. And the footprints implanted in the floor looked as if they were tangoing. The room was a disaster with every piece of furniture flipped onto it's side, some smashed to little bits of glass and wood.

"Elsa?" Anna called out quietly. Her breath could be seen in the air.

When she got no response, she picked herself up off the ground, wincing from the shards of glass impaling her knees. She snatched the lantern from Kristoff's grasp, and made her way forward. The rest of the group watching her every breath, too afraid to enter what looked like a crime scene.

She made her way towards a giant icicle shot up from the ground, running her hand against it, shining the light towards it. Something was off with the ice. It wasn't a translucent blue like any other shard of ice. It was black. As gruesome and dark like obsidian. Anna has never seen Elsa produce black ice before, so what could this mean?

The ginger squinted her cerulean eyes when the exaggerated light from the moon shined onto her. She turned her gaze towards Elsa's balcony, and there she was. Elsa, with her back to her sister, standing peacefully with a ripped nightgown, hair fallen loosely to her shoulders. She gazed into the moon, the Man in the Moon, like that was the only thing in the world that mattered.

Elsa didn't hear her sister weep with reassurance. The sighs of relief coming from everyone behind her sounded like static. All she could hear was the Man in the Moon speaking to her, easing the fear that was all welled up inside. She stared at the baby blue orb in the sky, something she's known existed for years, but never knew existed in a way that could ease her pain.

"I hear you," she murmured.


	7. Chapter 6

"When do you think they'll show up?"

Anna, covered head to toe in heavy wool, turned her neck towards her fiancee. They stood side by side at the entrance of the gate, examining the townsfolk re-enact their typical daily routines. The gates were closed for the day, a decision that Anna had made the night before because of her sister's outburst. It was a hard call to make, and just telling the castle guards to close them put a pit in the red head's stomach. She never thought in a million years she would ever have to make that call, especially since after "The Great Thaw" the two sisters vowed to never close them again. No matter how grim it made Anna feel, it was an adult decision, and she was doing whatever she could to keep her sister out of harm's way.

Anna slid off her maroon mittens to reveal bandaged fingers. She rubbed her palms together to create friction, and harshly breathed into her hands. "I don't know," Anna muttered, "they never gave a specific time." Her throat felt like sandpaper, making her voice sound raspy.

"You should drink some water," Kristoff suggested, handing over his canteen. "All that screa-"

"I know, Kristoff," she interrupted with a harsh tone. She took a swig of the water, and cleared her sore throat. "All that screaming last night made my throat sore..."

Kristoff didn't respond out of guilt, rather he sunk his hands into the pockets of his black pants. Maybe mentioning how she was screaming because everyone thought Elsa was brutally murdered wasn't something that needed to be brought up.

For the next few minutes, they continued to stand side by side, admiring the early morning breeze of fall. Frost blanketed rooftops, and puddles froze over with ice. Ever since the Guardians arrived, the kingdom of Arendelle was colder, yet at the same time, peaceful. They knew it had to have something to do with that Frost guy, what other reason could it have been? But they had to admit they appreciated their company. It was never too cold, nor too warm; the weather felt like it was on the brink of winter, the perfect middle.

Kristoff sighed through his nose, and bumped shoulders with his fiancee. "How is she?" He knows he shouldn't be bringing this up again, but it's been itching his mind.

She bit her bottom lip in hesitation, but remembered that Elsa is his family too, that they all worried for her. "Fine," she prompted. She swayed on her feet, and looked up at her muscular man. "She's really tired."

"Well, I bet," he huffed. "She stayed up all night, and didn't say a word to me."

It was true. After they found Elsa on her balcony staring up at the moon, they brought her to the doctor immediately. She was examined head to toe of any bruises or marks, and unfortunately they found many. Her baby blue nightgown was torn, and her hair was a battered mess. It took no officer to know that she had been fighting someone.

"She didn't talk to anyone last night," Anna responded with a low voice. "All she said was that the Stabbington Brothers were taken care of."

Kristoff made a face of confusion, saying, "but there wasn't anyone in her room last night. No bodies, nothing."

Anna only shrugged. She knew as much as Elsa told her, and that wasn't very much. _Typical Elsa_, Anna thought, _she's acting like a child. We're not kids anymore like when Mamma and Pappa were still alive._

"Is that them?" Kristoff questioned, interrupting Anna's inner thoughts. He pointed to the early morning sky, at a cherry red and golden sleigh. It jingled as it came closer and closer. The figures inside of the sleigh became more distinct and familiar to Anna as the reindeers parked itself in front of the castle gates. Her face wiped away any sign of frustration from before, and her face began to warm up.

"Hello again, Princess Anna!" The jolly man roared with enthusiasm, hand in air.

Anna's eyes brightened as she made her way towards the unique group. "Hey, North!" Anna roared back, equally as exuberant. She and Kristoff helped them escape the massive sleigh, watching as they all greeted Anna with friendliness.

"And this must be Kristoff?!" North glowed, shaking the hand of the flabbergasted blonde.

"You know my name?"

North chuckled, "I know everyone's name! It's part of my job!"

Bunnymund introduced himself to Kristoff, along with the rest of the Guardians. They were a bright group, North with his black Russian hat; Tooth and Sandy with their saturated colors; Bunny's sharp grey coat of fur; Jack's tall slender figure. His hair was messy, but it looked as if he brushed it earlier that day.

"It's nice to meet you all," Kristoff indulged. He exchanged a quick glance between the visitors and the large castle gate, announcing to come inside. They obliged, and off the group of unique characters traveled inside the castle.

When they arrived inside the warm building, Anna and Kristoff gave them a brief tour of their home, something Anna didn't have time to do the day before. The architecture was beautiful, lots of woods and stone throughout the hallways. Most of the rooms were decorated with bold reds with the occasional white and green accent. Every now and then, they'd come across a room specifically decorated by Elsa, with lots of different shades of blues and snowflakes. The Guardians admired it, especially Jack. All in all, it was a treat to be able to explore the wondrous castle. Unfortunately, the tour was soon over after a maid informed them of breakfast being finished.

Soon thereafter, the seats of the long breakfast table was taken by the Guardians, Anna, Kristoff, along with Rapunzel and Eugene. The table was populated with plates filled with breakfast sandwiches, cheese, eggs, and beverages containing coffee, tea, along with some milk. The delicious scent filled the occupant's nostrils.

"Good to have you back," Eugene acclaimed, scarfing down some bread with meat and cheese. "I've got some hope for us with you guys around."

Bunny smirked, hearing Eugene's statement. He being the Guardian of hope made his spine arch with pride. "Good to hear that then," he said adding extra oomph to his Australian accent. "So, where's ice chick? Aren't we supposed to wait to eat before she arrives?"

Everyone at the table then shot a glare at Eugene for eating before the Queen arrived. It was common courtesy to wait until the Queen began to eat, and since Elsa was nowhere in sight, it seemed as if they were going to have to wait a while. Eugene froze his chewing, and slowly swallowed the rest of the food out of embarrassment. "Sorry," he said with a cheek full of food.

Rapunzel rolled her emerald eyes at her silly husband, and looked towards the waitress. "Excuse me," she called, "where's Elsa?"

The waitress twiddled her thumbs. "Well, we told her breakfast was ready. She said she would be down in a second. She looked really busy in her study."

Rapunzel then shifted her eyes towards Anna and Kristoff for support, not wanting to keep their very important guests waiting any longer. Kristoff, in response, looked to Anna who was now being stared at by everyone in the room.

"Fine," said Anna, standing up to her feet. She took the napkin from her lap, setting it on the empty plate in front of her. "I'll go look for her." Everyone's eyes watched as the warmed skinned woman exited the dining room.

Anna pounded her feet to the floor a little as she approached Elsa's study. She was in a mood, mostly out of confusion and overwhelmedness. She doesn't know who or what her sister saw last night to make her act so antisocial. She doesn't believe Elsa when she says she saw the Stabbington Brothers, but everyone else did. She knows when her sister is lying, even if she was concealed behind locked doors all their childhood. There were no bodies found in Elsa's room, only footprints engraved in snow and blood. But also that odd black icicle shooting up from the ground. Anna could recall it being a foggy black, dark yet translucent. Where could it have come from if she's never seen Elsa create such a thing? Unless Elsa is hiding something beyond her ice powers.

Anna rounded the corner of the bright hallway and began to rapidly knock on Elsa's door. "Not this again," Anna moaned. When she didn't receive any answer, she jimmied the door handle, to find a pasty white blonde starring out the tall window. Her back was to Anna, just like the night on the balcony, and she was starring up at the ghostly sky.

Anna cleared her throat which made Elsa jump from her trance. Elsa fully faced Anna as they stood opposite ends of the study, mildly examining each other.

"Sorry," Elsa muttered, hugging her torso, "I was just..."

"Looking? I know," Anna snapped.

Elsa furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, releasing her arms to her sides. "Yeah," She said simply.

They stood in silence once more, this time the air being filled with heavy tension.

"Look," Anna started, gliding her braid between her hands, "I don't know what you saw last night, but I'm scared too."

Elsa scoffed, turning her back to Anna. The ash blonde woman crossed her arms as she continued to stare at the grey cloudy sky.

Anna's face turned sympathetic as she fully entered the study, approaching the mahogany desk placed in the middle of the room. "Haven't you realized by now, Elsa? Keeping secrets from your family doesn't solve the issue, it only makes it worse."

Anna took a second to give Elsa the chance to respond, but when she didn't she groaned in frustration. "If you could just tell me, please, what you saw last night, and not give me the cold shoulder, we could find a way to fix it."

"I already told you, it was the Stabbington Brothers."

"Yeah? Then how come we couldn't find them then, huh?"

Elsa didn't answer the question, rather proceeded to stare blankly at the sky.

Anna chuckled to the ground, gliding her finger tips on the desk. "You're hiding something. I know it."

As if right on cue, they were greeted with a soft knock at the door. A soft woman's voice claimed that supper was getting cold, and the guests were turning worried.

"Better go, huh," Anna suggested.

"Yeah, I guess we should."

* * *

The dining room was tranquil, only the sound of munching and silverware on plates could be heard. Every now and again one of the spirits would mention how lovely the food was, and how they haven't eaten in years. Except for North of course, whose diet consisted of a considerable amount of cookies and fruitcake.

"So," Tooth fluttered her amethyst iris's to the occupants at the table. "What's new?"

Forks squeaked against plates as the eyes of Kristoff, Rapunzel and Eugene cautiously rested their gaze on Elsa. Anna only dropping her teacup to the table, crossing her arms in a challenging way. She squinted her cerulean eyes at the pasty blonde from across the table, wanting to hear what Elsa had to say next.

Tooth immediately sensed the rigid atmosphere. She sucked in her cheeks, and fiddled with her fingernails. "You don't have to respond to that, Queen Elsa. I didn't realize..."

Elsa took a deep breath, gifting Toothiana a forgiving smile. "It's fine," she said, "it was bound to come up anyway."

Jack sat on the edge of his seat, no longer picking at the tasteless food with his fork. He was interested in what she had to say, which to him was quite odd. He never offered anyone his full attention. Perhaps it was because they shared a similar quality of snow and ice? Or maybe the way her plump cheeks highlighted if hit from certain lighting? There was something beyond her ice powers that Jack wanted to know more about, and it was going to take all of his attention to do so.

"Last night there were intruders in the castle," said Elsa. The Guardians gasped in response. "The Stabbington Brothers climbed into my bedroom window, and threatened to kill me. I was able to defend myself before they could get me."

Anna tried not to roll her eyes, instead huffed through her nose like a bull. Luckily, Elsa didn't notice.

"I took care of them, luckily, so there's no need to be worried."

"Wow..." Tooth fixed her jaw. "So _they_ were the assassins... That makes so much more sense."

Elsa looked to her plate of fruit and oats. She glided her feminine fingertips behind her ear, not wanting to make eye contact with the guests.

"Are you sure it wasn't Pitch?"

The Queen shot her eyes up at the cold man that sat only a few seats down. She wasn't expecting that question, especially from... him.

"Yeah," she said bashfully. "I'm sure."

Jack rested his back against the cushioned seat. "If you say so."

Rapunzel made her way into the conversation. "Speaking of Pitch, I was thinking..." The freckled face Queen of Corona now had the attention of everyone at the table. "Since Pitch Black wants to take over - I don't know - the world? We should really plan on building up an army to stop him."

North howled a deep laugh, pointing his finger at the brunette. "_EXACTLY_ what I was thinking! We need to gather up an army to stop Pitch from creating a new Dark Era!"

Mumbles of agreement were exchanged throughout the table just in time for Kristoff to say, "how are we going to do that?"

Bunnymund chortled, "North here got Yeti's that can touch the rooftops of this castle. My mate here, Tooth, has fairies that can put up a fight like no other; Sandy has his sand; I got plenty of weapons of my own, plus my exploding eggs. Jack here..." the fury bunny spat out a mischievous laugh. "Jack here got no one."

"That's not true!" Jack retorted.

"Aster..." Tooth warned.

"What? He's got a stick! And if ya ask me, he could just shove that thing right up his a-"

"Alright, that's enough," North groaned in annoyance. "We're being rude guests."

Jack agreed, putting up his best Australian accent, "yeah, ya Kangaroo. Don't embarrass us in front of the Queen, mate!"

"Oh wouldn't you like to know! You've been wanting to bring her up sin-!"

"Aster! Jackson! Enough!" Tooth growled through gritted teeth, feathers furrowed.

The two looked away from each other. Bunny with his long ears behind his head, and Jack with a face full of red. Jack could easily melt a snowman with the heat of his face.

Elsa coughed behind her fist, blushing furiously. "Um, I'm glad you guys know a way to stop Pitch's threat." She struggled a smile. "I can build up an army of snowmen, surely they will be useful to us."

Jack perked his ears. "Wait what?"

Elsa giggle, "I can create snowmen that'll do my bidding."

Jack's face cooled off a bit, blush only affecting the back of his neck. "Wow... h-how?"

Eugene butted in, "question. Are we going to gather troops too?"

"Absolutely not," Anna and Elsa said in unison.

"The less of our people we include the better," Kristoff prompted.

"But, the more help we get, the higher our chances of success," Tooth informed with palms supporting her jaw. "Which means we may need all of you to participate."

Rapunzel responded, "that'll have to do then! You guys can help train us to fight in this war to defeat Pitch."

North stood up from his seat with a grin the size of two countries. "That settles it then! We shall build up an army, and train to fight!"

Tooth and Bunny exchanged glances, both telling Anna, Kristoff, Rapunzel and Eugene that they will help train them in combat. "And Elsa," Bunny called, "you can teach our boy, Jack, how it's really done." He winked, which made Jack scoff and Elsa smirk.

"When do we start?" Asked Eugene.

North crossed his arms over his burly chest, and raised his chin towards the ceiling. He looked ten feet taller with that stance. "The sooner the better," he boomed.

"I guess that means today," said Rapunzel with an optimistic shrug of her shoulders.

Elsa focused her eyes on Jack's, who did the same. "I guess that does," they said under their breaths.

* * *

**Hey, I'm back! Sorry if these chapters aren't coming out super quick! I try to get one out at least once a week, but I find myself breaking that rule. School has been my top priority at the moment, so my apologies if these don't come out very quick. I really love writing Breaking Time, more than anything I've ever written before! So thank you to everyone that has reviewed, followed, favorited, everything! Your support motivates me to give you the best story I can make!**

**Alsoooo, ooohhhh that last chapter though! Who was Elsa fighting? Was she telling the truth? What's she up to? Hmmmm... You'll find out eventually. Probably not soon, but you'll get hints. And I'll just say, no, Jack wasn't in her room last night, and no, Elsa's not dead ;)**

**See you in the next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 7

**_Year 1829, Arendelle_**

_The chilly night sky was a deep navy blue. Twinkling stars radiated like distant lanterns, and the luminescent moon peaked behind grey clouds. A light layer of frost blanketed the rooftops of the castle, signalling that winter was right around the corner._

_What a time it was to be alive for the little princess. Where it was cold in the confinements of her room, but also on the outskirts of the gates. She didn't feel like an outcast or a monster; she felt like she finally belonged. Was it Elsa making the temperature drop in the west hall? No, it was the white wind traveling inside every time someone opened a door from the outside. Finally, for three months, she won't be at fault for every maid that slips on ice. That's because for three months, nature will be to blame for the acts of traveling snow and wind._

_Elsa's tiny fingers embraced the windowsill, tracing the outline of distant trees against her window. Tranquility washed over the princess as she thought of happier days before the incident. Her sister thinks she recalls the dress ups and dollhouses, but Elsa remembers the igloos and snowball fights. No matter how many times their parents put up the facade of a happy life (just a troubling daughter), they will never take away Elsa's only memories of better days._

_There she goes again, unknowingly creating bits of snowflakes with the tips of her fingers. The image of an outside world is concealed by the ice covering the entire window. She gasped at the sudden actions of her powers then began to weep weakly into the crook of her arm. How do the simplest of actions trigger her abilities? The blonde threw herself to the ground, wailing into the floorboards. Ice traveled from underneath her and up the walls of her jail cell._

_The door gently creaked open to revealing a candlelight peeping at her. She jolted her head up, peering her eyes into the suited figure at her doorstep._

_"Elsa?" Her father whispered._

_"Pappa!" She pushed herself up, and dashed into her father's chest, making him nearly drop the burning candle._

_He lightly placed a hand on her small back, deepening their hug. "I'm here, I'm here," he calmly soothed. "What are you doing awake at such an hour?"_

_Elsa let go of him, looking down at the floor in shame. "I couldn't sleep."_

_"Again?"_

_In response, she nodded her head slowly._

_The King sighed in sympathy, leading her to her queen-sized bed. He tucked her into the covers as Elsa fluffed her pillow. When the princess rested her cheek against the softness of the pillow, the King placed the candlelight on her nightstand, and kneeled at the edge of the bed so that he was face to face with his eldest daughter. He ran his fingers against her forehead making her lips curl. _

_"I can say the same for myself," he said more to himself than to her. "I've been up all day running a kingdom that doesn't even respect me anymore." _

_Elsa's stomach curled, and her throat tightened. She didn't know how to react, or how to respond. The only thing she knew how to do was grab at her father's clammy hands and squeeze. He shot his hazel eyes into her azure ones, quickly realizing that what he said shouldn't have been spoken in front of his child._

_"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I meant to say that I can't sleep too."_

_Elsa didn't respond, rather gripped tighter at his hands, not wanting to let him go. _

_"Pappa?"_

_"Yes, sweetheart?"_

_Elsa nuzzled into her blanket as she spread a gleaming smile across her face. "Can you tell me a story?"_

_The King was caught off guard, for his wife was usually the one that told the bedtime stories. "Well, um," he muttered. "Will it make you go to sleep?"_

_The young girl nodded her head eagerly._

_"Well alright then," he grunted. He showed his age by using up all of his energy to get up off the floor to then sit on the edge of the bed. "I only know one story," he said as he regained his breath. "And that's the story of Sanderson Mansnoozie."_

_"Who's that? That's a funny name," Elsa chuckled._

_Her father mimicked her by snickering. "Mr. Sandman."_

_"I've never heard of him before," Elsa replied._

_"Well, now you will," the King grinned. He cleared his throat, and patted his chest. "Now, once upon a time..."_

_Elsa watched her father carefully as he began the story of Sanderson Mansnoozie. As she closed her eyes and began to imagine the tales of Sandman, she found that she could barely hear her father's tale. She peaked open one eye, and noted that her father's mouth was moving as if he was speaking, but not a peep escaped his lips. Perhaps it was just in her imagination, so she cleared her throat. _

_"Ahem."_

_She heard herself though, so why didn't he make any noise? Maybe he was just playing around with her, so she poked her foot at his leg._

_"Pappa?"_

_He didn't respond, but continued to move his mouth open and close like a mime. In slight panic, Elsa attempted to get out of the restraints of her blanket to nudge his shoulder. As she did so, he jolted his head to look at her, and snapped his neck. The sudden movement made the bed creak, and the candle on the nightstand fell over._

_"Pappa!" Elsa screamed through fits of coughs, falling to the ground._

_The flame of the candle shot up to the ceiling in lightning speed. Smoke as dark as coal engulfed the room in seconds, making the furniture disappear._

_Elsa reacted by choking on the flames, and aimed her arms at the source of the fire. In her disbelief, no ice escaped her hands. She tried again with more urge, suffocating on the smoke doing so. Nothing._

_Elsa's eyes burned as flakes poked at her eyes, and her skin felt chalky. She bolted to the door, pulling at the handle, but it was locked._

_She pounded her tiny fists to the wood, crying for her Mamma and Anna. "Help me! Ack ack!"_

_Flames surrounded her figure as her skin began to melt, and her lungs began to roast. Her hair went brittle, as she nailed at the wood of the door and floor. Dropping to the ground, Elsa poked her nose under the opening of the door for air, but it wasn't enough, for her vision began to blur with every second she was trapped. _

_Everything went pitch black._

* * *

"Elsa?"

The icy woman jumps at the sound of her name, and turns her body to face the source of the voice. A peach skinned red head stands in her gaze with a look of worry spread all over her freckled face.

"Y-yeah?"

Anna sinks her shoulders, and walks up to her older sister with crossed arms. "Are you ready?"

The pale blonde furrows her eyebrows in confusion, eyes squinted as if trying to recall what she's getting ready for.

"The speech," Anna points out with a look that says "duh". She places a hand on her hip, and nods her head to the side. "Nervous?"

"Oh, right, of course," she replies, lightly smacking her forehead with her palm. After breakfast with the Guardians, the Royal Advisers told Elsa that it was best to inform the townsfolk of an oncoming war as soon as possible. They didn't want to spread worry, but at the same time, the people had the right to know what was going on in their government. The Advisers also noted how doing so could help the townspeople better prepare themselves for Pitch's mysterious ways.

Elsa composes herself by wiping away the wrinkles of her sky blue dress. She then adjusts her long white cardigan embroidered with diamonds, and fixes the tiny snowflake buttons hemmed onto it. After that, she runs fingers through her signature french braid and turns to Anna with a questioning face. "How do I look?"

Anna ditches the look of concern, and replaces it with an expression more familiar to Elsa: a genuine smile. "You look beautiful."

"Great." As the Queen places her hands behind her back, she inhales deeply, eyelids closed. "Don't mess up, Elsa," she whispers to herself. Elsa fills her mind with warm thoughts to melt away her anxiety, and moves towards the front door that will reveal thousands upon thousands of her people.

The large wooden door opens slowly, and horns singing tunes of traditional Norwegian music blasts through the air. Elsa and Anna step outside to look out at their courtyard, many familiar faces catching their eyes. A leaden colored sky hovered over the kingdom, resulting in a chilly and dim atmosphere. The weather was a sharp contrast to the rest of the people who seemed joyful for the most part.

A sudden moment is taken to applaud the Royal sisters, and after a few seconds of cheering, the large courtyard quiets down.

Elsa forces a smile, and drags her feet along the maroon carpet to get a better look at the crowd. She finds her cousin, Rapunzel, along with Eugene and Kristoff off to the side with Anna. Looking closer, she spots all five of the Guardians next to her family. They gave her waves and a thumbs up when they realized she was looking right at them. Jack even gifted her a cute lopsided grin, similar to the one he gave her when they first met. Elsa finds herself smiling back at him before it registered that the horns had stopped playing, and the crowd had been standing in silence for quite some time now.

She clears her throat behind her fist and speaks. "Good afternoon, Arendelle. As you might've realized by now, Arendelle faces a massive threat by a mysterious stranger that has already destroyed the Kingdom of Corona." Elsa's spine shivers before continuing. "Well, that mysterious stranger has a name now."

Waves of soft murmuring travels throughout the yard. Heads jumped and mouths gaped all at once.

"His name is Pitch Black, the Nightmare King, and it's unclear of what his motives are, but we will do all that we can to make sure that he doesn't get what he wants." Elsa furrows her brows. "What he did to Corona was evil and it won't happen again. Be prepared, my people, for a _war_. There's no doubt in my mind that what they did to our family will stop there. Pitch wants fear and anarchy, and his minions will surely prey on us, but we need to be brave and have hope."

Looks of pure confusion wiped the townsfolk's faces.

"Pitch and his army feeds on fear, and it's up to us that we don't give him that. We have united with a team known as the Guardians who will help us build up our own army that will surely stop the Nightmare King. Until then, keep on the lookout, report any suspicious behavior, and stay safe. Thank you."

Applaud roars among the loyal townsfolk, making the rocky ground shake in response. Chants of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna's name erupts in loud cheers, fists pumping into the air. The speech was a success, and the rally of her people made the blonde sigh in relief. She couldn't help but allow her lips to curl at the sight of motivated people of all ages.

Elsa turns her stance to then follow Anna back inside the castle, the rest of her family and the Guardians traveling behind the Snow Queen.

Even closing the heavy wooden door behind them, muffled cheers could still be heard from outside.

"Magnificent speech, Queen Elsa," Tooth gushes.

"That was very relieving," Eugene adds. "Being told that their's a war coming, and being that excited about it..."

Rapunzel lightly hits Eugene's arm. "Oh please. They are just very loyal and patriotic. We'll certainly make lots of progress with their encouragement."

"Agreed." North folds his giant arms over his chest with a strong stance. He scans the room with a determined look. "Now, how about that training we talked about?"

Kristoff and Anna linked arms with psyched expressions. "What are we waiting for? Lets go!"

With that, the Guardians, minus Jack, led Anna, Kristoff, Eugene and Rapunzel off to wherever they planned on training. They skipped and marched off as they left Elsa and Jack behind. Until they were a safe distance away from the frosty pair, Jack saw Bunny turn his neck, giving him a wink before disappearing behind a corner with the rest of the group. Jack sinks his dark eyebrows into his eyes before realizing they were utterly alone.

Jack clears his throat, "So, Elsa, I guess it's just us now"

Elsa raises a brow up at the tall man, and turns around. She gestures an arm in her direction, signalling Jack to follow her. "This way, Jack."

* * *

They had been walking side be side in silence for about half an hour. The two traveled out on a dirt path surrounded by orange trees and shrubs, with woodland creatures following them at their feet. Crunching leaves and rocks kicked by Jack were their only source of sound. Jack thought about speaking up, but every time he opened his mouth to say something, he'd realize that he had nothing worthy to add to the silence consuming them. Elsa looked deep in thought, in a way that it sort of disturbed Jack. When her face would drop out of distress, she'd look up to the sky as if she was searching for something, but when she could only find a cloudy sky, she'd turn her head so that she was facing the path in front of her again.

Finally, Elsa asks, "does he ever speak to you too?"

Her raspy voice startles Jack, making him jump his shoulders. "What do you mean?"

She bites her lip, continuing to look forward with a blank stare. "him." she points her finger at the clouded sky.

Jack shifts his crystal blue eyes up. "Oh! You mean Manny?"

Without turning her head, her eyes look into Jack's.

"Yeah, all the time." Jack grins and plops his staff onto his shoulder. "I mean, ever since I became a Guardian, I've been too busy to really talk to him. When I do he usually doesn't reply back."

"Hmm." she hums.

They walk in hushed silence yet again, this time with Jack freezing every tree stump they came across. Every time he did something with his staff, he felt Elsa's eyes piercing into him, noting his every movement.

"Where did you get your powers?" She asks with curiosity.

Jack smirks. "The Man in the Moon gave them to me. What about you?"

She looks down to the ground, and sways her arms at her side. "Born with them." Elsa huffs loudly through her nose. "Sometimes they feel like a curse."

Jack scoffs, "oh please, I don't know what I would do without my ice powers." He swings his wrist to create dancing snowflakes, circling Elsa. "This is a gift."

The blonde fiddles with the tip of her braid, saying, "I suppose", before they yet again trail off into an undisturbed quietness. This time it didn't seem as awkward as before. In fact, it felt comfortable, like they both belonged. Neither one of them were aware of the fact that each of them had spent years in solitude with this exact silence. Usually Jack resented such silence, and longed for much more excitement, but this felt right. For Elsa, she would usually get anxious around others she wasn't familiar with, however, being in the presence of Jack gives her a feeling she's never felt in all her life.

As they continue to travel to the unknown destination that Elsa still had not revealed to him, the gap between them shrunk more and more until they were accidentally bumping shoulders with one another. They'd exchange apologies until moments later they'd do it again, and so on...

"So," Elsa muttered, "I'm curious."

Jack shifts his eyes down at the porcelain woman.

Elsa questions herself. Should she even be bringing this up? Well, she has his full attention now, so might as well. "Your friend, Sandman."

Jack raises his eyebrow, wondering were she's going with this.

"What's his story?"

Jack didn't know what to say for the reason that Sandy never spoke. He'd make signals with his sand, but that wasn't ever enough to tell his full background. "Uhh... Can I ask why?"

Elsa blew out her nose, averting her eyes to all sorts of objects in their path: trees, bushes, flowers, etc. How does she say this without revealing too much? "I had... a nightmare."

Jack's eyes shot wide open. "Y-you what?"

"I mean, not exactly, because I wasn't _asleep_, but I had some sort of flashback. It wasn't a real flashback, but it felt important."

Jack's face squints in suspicion. "Go on."

"It was my Pappa, and he was telling me the story of your friend, but I never got to hear it. I was wondering if you could tell me Sandman's story if that's okay."

Jack scratches the back of his neck in skepticism. "Well, you see, I don't know a lot about where he came from, but I know just enough." He straddles his hooked staff behind his neck, and smiles. "He was Manny's first helper."

Elsa gives Jack her full attention by shifting her entire body so that she's facing him. She's walking sideways in a goofy way as she trips over her heals a few times, but her ears are all on him.

"Before Sandman he was known as League of Star Captains, where he roamed around the universe granting wishes made by shooting stars. He was and still is very brave. He met Emily Jane, who is also known as Mother Nature, and granted her a wish to start over her life." Jack went rambled on and on about nonsense, not exactly knowing what to add or what to leave out. "Then something happens with Pitch where he tries to ya know, kill everyone-"

"As he does."

"-yeah, exactly. Then Sandy saves these kids, and Manny grants him the title of Sandman Mansnoozie. Aka, Sandman the First; aka, Lord High Protector of Sleep and Dreams."

Elsa watches Jack's profile in disbelief. She's not sure whether or not his version of Sandy's story was helpful or not, but decides not to push any further, for it's clear that Jack doesn't know the full picture. Elsa mentally notes to herself to attempt speak to the short golden man herself whenever she gets the chance. For now, it'll have to wait because they had finally arrived to their destination.

* * *

The man was tall of height with salt and pepper hair. The man seemed to be in his late sixties with wrinkles engraved in every crevice of his face. His clothes weren't battered, but definitely weren't a symbol of high status. A cream colored shirt with black pants along with a heavy overcoat embraced the middle aged man's shoulders.

He had no family, only the memories of a lost wife in the attack of this so called Pitch. Since immigrating from Germany to Norway, he had yet to keep up with his hygiene. He had the appearance of a middle class widower, but the smell of a low class hobo.

He had just finished watching the Queen's speech along with all the other townsfolk of Arendelle and Corona. Even though it seemed clear enough to him that the speech was mostly made for the people of Arendelle, the tall German man couldn't help but listen in on the speech. Because the courtyard wasn't big enough to hold two kingdoms, he had to unfortunately step outside the castle gates, and try his best to make out Queen Elsa's speech.

"Pitch Black, the Nightmare King... Be prepared, my people, for _war_..."

The man crossed his arms, leaning against the rocky wall. He felt left out, being about the only one outside the castle gates. He closed his eyes to focus on the Queen when he felt a nudge on his shoulder.

When he opened his eyes, he found what looked to be just three regular men. They were much taller than him, and all three of them had hair as dark as ink, with dark dilated pupils. They were on autopilot, and their stance gave an off feeling. It was weird, for their clothes were like any others. The old man thought that they might've been possessed.

"Can I help you?" The man croaked.

The tallest one of them said, "you have to come with us." His voice was emotionless.

"Excuse me?"

The three men then gripped the man, one covering his muffling mouth, while the two others snagged his legs and shoulders. When the man desperately shifted his eyes around to see if any guards were there to help, he found that two other men, similar in appearance to those who were carrying him, dragged two other unconscious guards to an unknown destination. With one last look of the outside world, one of the men placed a bag over his head.

The man's heart quickened as the three brought him to an unknown area. He heard rustling of leaves and rocks. Then he heard the loud crash of an active ocean. The three dropped the man in a pile of rocks when he heard through the bag: "do you think he heard us take out the guard?", "now he did", "lets take him out."

Before the man knew it, he was consumed by the numbing cold of the ocean. His ears and nose filled with water as he chocked for air. When he realized there was no chance in winning this battle with the sea, he relaxed his old bones and accepted his death with only his wife on his mind.

What those possessed men were planning, he didn't know, and chose not to care, for his fate would surely be the fate of many to come.


	9. Chapter 8

**Sorry this took so long, I wasn't intending to take two weeks to post a chapter.**

* * *

When Jack and Elsa round the corner of the giant north mountain, he wasn't expecting to find a giant ice castle atop an orange mountain. Warm colors of maple leaves and dark green grass cover the same ground as the tall castle. It stood out like a sore thumb, the blues and whites heavily contrasting the autumn trees in the distant. Sure it was chilly out, especially with the Ice Queen and Father Winter standing shoulder to shoulder in the same spot, gazing at the magnificent architecture that stood confidently in front of the two; however, it wasn't cold enough for an ice castle to stand high without it melting completely. This was new to the curious Jack.

"Wh-wh..." Jack stutters, never taking his eyes off the beautiful art in front of him.

Elsa softly chuckles, placing her hands on her hips, bumping her elbow into his side. "Thanks."

Without moving an inch, Jack watches the cold Queen click her heals up the long stairs of the castle. Still unblinking, he watches her back approach the heavy ice doors, and notices how she turns her neck to glance at his shocked expression. Her eyes are hooded with a single raised brow, and the corner of her mouth smirks. It's her turn to flash him a heart melting smile.

Jack can barely make out her blurred silhouette as she disappears behind the ice walls. He shakes his head to regain his thoughts, then boosts himself up the stairs with the help of the wind.

The inside is just as gorgeous as the outside. A dazzling chandelier made of what looks like diamonds and crystals hovers over the white haired man from a high ceiling. Two more grand staircases curved to reveal a shining banister. At the bottom of the steps, which happens to be the same floor as Jack, is a baby blue fountain to match the rest of the blues and whites. The water from the fountain was frozen in the air to create what looks like a glass statue. When Jack looked down at the smooth ice below him, he found a giant snowflake similar to the ones Elsa wears in her braid, under the translucent floor.

"Are you done yet?"

Jack shoots his head up to find Elsa at the top of the steps, looking down at him with a gushed face. Her silky aquamarine dress hidden behind a long white cardigan flows every time she moves her hips. The slender man itches the goosebumps rising on the back of his neck. His whole face begins to tingle, and even a blind man could tell that he was blushing.

"Uh... Yeah! Yep! Just, ah," he fakes a pity cough behind his fist," looking..."

Elsa giggles, making Jack's face heat up some more, not because he's embarrassed, but because that was the loudest he's ever heard her laugh. Not only that, but _he _made her laugh. Just then, he took a snapshot with his brain, marking a memory of the first time he's ever made this beautiful young woman laugh. He will cherish this moment as she hides her lips behind her fingers, the way her purple eyelids close, and how her pearly white teeth peak behind rose colored lips. How come just a few seconds of her giggling feels like five minutes of Jack just starring at her? Like time's in slow motion. Oh well, he decides to just blame that on Ombric's death.

"Well," she lets out a few more soft chuckles before composing herself. "I'd love to give you a tour of my safe haven," she points her pupils at the door behind her then back at him, "but I believe we have some training to do."

"Right," he assures with a thumbs up.

This time Elsa waits patiently and watches Jack take his time walking up the spiral steps. When he finally arrives on the same floor as her, he doesn't attempt to hide his expression of disbelief. His mouth gaped to show off his own set of pearly teeth, and his eyes widened with dark eyebrows covering his lids.

"You made this," he says with perplexity in his voice.

She looks to her feet. "I mean, who else would've made it? Obviously not you." She teases, making him scoff.

"Okay, fair point."

Elsa leads him upstairs to a spacious and open floor plan, even wider than the area downstairs. The ceiling is higher, and there's more room to do a variety of things.

"So, this is where we're training?" Jack asks. When she didn't answer, he says, "tell me exactly how you're going to teach me your tricks."

This time, she responds, "I was actually thinking that maybe you could teach me a few things."

Jack furrows his eyebrows, squinting at her. He stops in his tracks to watch her walk in the middle of the room. "Why? It's obvious you can do so much more things with your powers."

She inhales through her chest, and then turns around to look at him. "That may be true, but..."

He notices how she hesitates to say more as if she's trying to hide something. She looks scared, so he approaches her, and tries to get in her frame of vision as she looks down. "What happened?" He asks.

She then exhales through her teeth and leads him to the balcony outside. She holds her stomach as she gazes her eyes out at the red and green vegetation below them. Other mountains peak behind other rocky mountains and steep hills. Above it all are dark murky clouds, concealing the blue sky.

"I want to say something," she explains, eyes resting on the beautiful view. "But, unfortunately, I can't."

Jack's face lowers in disappointment, then he too feasts his eyes on the picture in front of them. "And why's that?"

She bites her inner cheek. "I'm afraid of what will happen to my family and I."

"What do you mean?"

Elsa begins to nervously bite at her nails, questioning whether that was the right thing to say out loud. "I'm afraid of myself."

Jack decides not to question any further, but rather decides to listen closely.

"Back then it was even worse. I almost killed my sister." Her shoulders begin to quiver. "Then after my coronation, I almost kill her again, and not just that, but my own people as well." She struggles to let out an audible sigh, but only the crisp air escapes her lips. "After that, I did it. I completely killed the only person that never gave up on me-"

"-Elsa, you don't have to-"

"-But then, I don't really know how, but I saved her, and not only that, but the rest of my people as well." She turns her body to face Jack's profile. "After that, I convinced myself that I know now, I can finally take control over myself without fucking everything up."

Usually, anyone else would've winced at the sound of the Queen cursing, but Jack doesn't look at her like she's some sort of intimidating woman on a high pedestal. She's a person like everyone else that just needs to let out her bottled up feelings. She'd much rather rant to someone fresh than to someone who's heard it a thousand times like her family. In that case, he takes note of her desperate ranting by watching her with empathy.

"Then after awhile, in the midst of my ego, I hurt more people on accident, and I try to think about what I did to save Anna... Then it hits me. _What I did to save Anna doesn't always work_. I found that out the hard way when I hurt someone else I loved." She grips the railing, making her knuckles whiter than they already were.

"The thing is, Jack, _I don't know_. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing half the time because I'm just doing whatever feels right without any thought about it." She sighs once more. "I've hurt so many people, Jack, and no matter what I do, what I say, and what I think, it's never enough to fix it."

"Elsa..."

She wipes her nose, turning her head away from him almost out of humiliation for allowing herself to be so vulnerable around him. "You ever hear about our snowman, Olaf? Why he's never around anymore?"

"Uh, no..."

She scoffs and allows Jack to look at her pink face with crossed arms. "I was mad. I don't know what about anymore, but I stomped out of that room and flailed my arms, making who knows what shoot from my hands." Her voice grew quieter with less enthusiasm. "I was out of control. I should've kept it together, but I honestly couldn't hold it in..."

She paused for a second to process the scene in her head before continuing again. "He was hit and crushed by ice, and I didn't even notice because I was still arguing with one of my advisers. I left the castle straight away, and came here." They both look up at the cold roof of her castle, taking in her "safe haven". "Anna, being the girl that she is, came after me - of course - and told me that he was gone, and that if I would've stayed a bit longer I could've saved him."

"Sure I made another version of him, but it wasn't the same, they were all different." She says, holding in her tears. She looks at him with glassy eyes, and he gazes down at her not with disgust, but pure sympathy.

"So, what I'm trying to say is, I need your help. I've never met anybody in my entire life that can control ice like me, and maybe, just maybe, you can help me."

Jack didn't know what to say. This was the first time someone had ever poured their insecurities into his lap, expecting him to help. It was overwhelming.

"Elsa, I don't know if I can help you." She lowers her face. "But maybe I can help you find your own center."

She rises her eyes into his with confusion. "My center?"

Jack shrugs. "Well yeah! Maybe what saved your sister isn't what you thought was your center, but rather something else."

"I don't get what you mean."

He straddles his staff behind his neck, then floats to sit on the edge of the railing. "Your center is who you are, what can help other people and yourself. For example, mine is fun; North is wonder; Tooth's memories; etc... We all have a center, even if you're not a Guardian like us. What did you think of when you saved Anna?"

She gulps, fiddling with her fingernails. "Love."

"Well, you love your sister all the time, but as you said, that doesn't always help your powers."

He gets off the railing, and leads Elsa to the center of the room again. He stands in front of her, smiles, then hands her his staff. "Here."

She grabs the hooked staff, observing every crevice engraved in the wood. "What do you want me to do with this?"

He places a hand on her shoulder and motions for her to grip it, and aim it at anywhere in the room.

"I use this staff to help control my own powers," he says. "Use it."

"What?!"

"Use it."

She tries giving it back to Jack, but he only crosses his arms over his chest, refusing to retrieve it from her grip. "I've never used this thing before! What if I accidentally hurt you?"

Jack laughs. "You won't, trust me. Have some faith in yourself."

Elsa rolls her eyes. "Jack, take it." She motions the staff at his chest, but he never uncrosses his arms. She's then forced to grip it tight, and decides to aim it at an icicle, hanging from the ceiling. She closes her eyes tight, then clenches the wooded staff, aiming and waiting to get the courage to let her powers flourish... But she can't bring herself to do it. Elsa relaxes her stance, tossing the staff in Jack's arms.

"Don't you see? I can't do it!" Her fingers rub at her temples.

Jack shrugs, in confusion. "What about this?" He points his free hand at the room around them. "You _can_ do this! You _can_ make amazing things with your powers, Elsa. You need to trust yourself. What you have isn't a curse, it's a blessing."

He holds both of her shoulders, so that she can't turn away. "You wanted me to help you, so I'm helping. If you can't beat this fear dwelling inside of you, you won't be able to fully gain control of your powers."

"Jack..." She bows her head, allowing a single tear to roll down her cheek. She holds up her palm, and whispers, "...look."

A single snowflake escapes her palm. It's white, fluffy and delicate, but as it floats higher towards their faces, the color of the snowflake turns the shade of a smoky black. This is something he's never seen before, and must be why she hesitated using his staff in the first place.

"How long has this been happening?" He whispers.

She mutters, "Since last night. I don't know why it keeps happening. One second I feel normal, and then out of nowhere... it just happens. Then I go into these very realistic nightmares, and I just can't stop..."

Without warning, Elsa falls into Jack's embrace, crying into his chest. Not knowing what to do, Jack wraps his arms around her, protecting her. She could feel his heart race to her ear pressing into his chest.

"I don't know what to do."

"I know, Elsa. It's okay." He rests his chin on her head, squeezing tighter. "We can figure this out."

* * *

**Well, you want some Jelsa, I give you Jelsa, but be warned, Not every chapter is going to be like this with just the two of them. Elsa opens up about what's going on in her head, which is the most we'll get from her in a while, and Jack listens.**

**And oh boy, y'all really don't know who Elsa was fighting with that night ;) . Your theories are so close, yet so far, and it's fun to read them. **

**Also, the cover that I made has Elsa holding Jack's staff, which is where this scene is _sorta_ inspired from.**

**This chapter is a lot different from my other chapters because usually there's multiple things happening at the same time. I guess that's because I wanted to slow it down a bit, and really take in how they act around each other, and what's going on with them as people. Obviously, this isn't the way Elsa would act all the time because she's going through some tough things at the moment. I honestly don't believe Elsa is always a sad cold person all the time, and I don't really like to define her personality based on her entire childhood. She can be a fun carefree person too! That side of her is sorta underrated; however, at the moment, she is battling some things mentally, so that's why she's breaking down. We all need a listening ear sometimes :) and Jack just so happens to be that listening ear.**

**I'm rambling now. See you next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 9

After a few good sniffles and one hearty hug later, the icy pair had sat idly on the railing of the ice castle. They basked in the crisp evening wind, and decided that procrastinating one work day of training was the best plan for Elsa's current state of mental health. She needed to get a few things off her chest, even if it wasn't the full picture. Jack was still confused about what she's going through along with the rest of her family back at the palace, but so was Elsa. From what Jack could tell, she needed to let go of the thoughts consuming her mind, and ranting it out to somewhat of a stranger like him was her best bet. He didn't take offence to it, he knows that after battling Pitch, they'll part paths and never see each other ever again. Where her mind may finally come to rest, and her secrets will be kept safely with him once he is back in the time 2021.

Her eyes were finally dry, and she looks just like the prim and prosper Queen that he's met the day before. Wow, yesterday. They met only twenty-four hours ago, yet it feels like at least a week.

"Is it time to head back already," Jack wonders, forearms resting on the sleek ice railing. His chin was bucked out slightly making it look like his jaw was sharper than it already was.

Elsa glanced at his profile, watching his lips move open and close slightly as he breathes. "Yeah," she responds in a monotone voice, "it's time."

The Frosty man stands up straight, gripping his curved staff, and finally turning his figure towards the entrance of the castle. He drags his feet then looks behind his shoulder and there she is staring at his pearly white hair.

"You coming?"

She doesn't ditch her neutral expression as she flicks her irises into his. "Thank you."

He's caught off guard, and shifts his view around a few times encase she was indeed speaking to him.

Who else would she be referring to? "For listening earlier," she continues on, with more emotion. The slight tone in her voice made it seem that she was genuinely thankful, but at the same time cautious. She isn't sure what he'll use that information for, or if he'll even use it at all. "Just do me a favor."

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell my sister about the black ice. I know she's already aware of it, but she's like a dog."

Jack's bushy eyebrows furrowed out of disbelief of such rude words. He placed a hand on his hip, jerking his head to the side a bit. "How so?"

She pinched the inside of her cheek with her teeth, weakly stopping her lips from saying what she's about to say. "She's gullible and a little ignorant. If you keep her attention away from a situation long enough, she'll forget about it."

Jack's thoughts sprung at Elsa with serious doubt. The way she told him was so cold, so thoughtless of one's feelings. He didn't want to believe she was like this behind people's back all the time.

"I don't know... Your sister seems _pretty _persistent if I do say so myself."

Her stare went blank in an unsettling way as if all emotions from before wiped away from her system. Her mind turned into a white canvas, and the artist was holding a paint brush marked with black paint. The canvas was her brain, the black acrylic was her thoughts, and the painter wasn't Elsa.

"I know Anna." Her statement was true for the most part, yet it feels like she's trying to convince herself that instead of actually reassuring Jack.

Did she though?

* * *

"Don't underestimate me." Her voice was firm, almost as if she was speaking to her own sister than to her fiancee, Kristoff.

The hefty Kristoff, threw his shoulders up to his ears out of defense. "I'm just saying, she's not gonna listen to you or anyone else for that matter."

They had gone back inside, each one of the Guardians and royal couples lounging near the library's fireplace. They had trained for hours, and the non-immortal's limbs began to shut down soon after their intense workouts. Bundling up next to a comfy fire relaxed their nerves, and a steaming hot cup of tea calmed their bones as well as it did soothe their throats.

Jack and Elsa were well a ways away, for neither of them specified when they'd get back. This caused Anna's stomach to curl of the thought of her sister not arriving home due to her suspicious behavior, and she began to question whether or not she should trust this Frost boy. Alas, the Guardians assured Anna that Jack could be a bit obnoxious at times, but it wasn't enough to drive someone to run away. Bunny, however, seemed to disagree, yet his remarks were soon swept under the rug by Toothiana herself.

Alarming news was brought to Anna's attention when the maid came to refill everyone's cups. She told Anna that since Elsa wasn't there at the moment, she should speak to Elsa's advisers right away before further speculation arise in the public's ear. When Anna came back after a good ten minutes, she was fuming to the point Eugene swore he saw steam piping out of the red head's nostrils.

Of course, Rapunzel and North persisted Anna tell them what Elsa's adviser's had informed her, claiming it will be beneficial for all of them, but her lips were locked. Her plan was to speak to Elsa in private the moment she walked through those gates. The only clue she gave them was that she could 100% confirm that her sister was a liar. That's when the conversation between Kristoff and Anna arises.

"I know that there's a possible-"

"Very possible," Kristoff interrupted her.

"-chance that she won't give me an explanation," her voice lowered out of ambition, "but I have to at least try."

Nobody knew what Anna was going to say to the Queen, but they all assumed it was about the night before. Something about Elsa's alibi was clearly off, they just had to prove what.

Almost immediately, Jack had creaked open the door to the library with a much taller guard on his shoulder.

"Hey, guys, I'm back," he called with a nonchalant wave.

Anna stood to her feet immediately, shoving the wool blanket off of her ankles. "Where is she?" Determination lifted her stature.

His crystal eyes locked into hers like a deer in headlights. Her expression made it look like he was in deep trouble. What for? He didn't do anything wrong - at least of what he knows of.

He points a thumb behind him. "She said something about her study."

Anna's feet flew forward, marching out of the dim library to fetch her sister's well needed attention.

* * *

Elsa was indeed sitting in her study. Playing with the feather of her quill, she sinks her cheek into her palm as her elbow rests on the surface of her mahogany desk. Piles of documents fill the entire area, something that would've been sorted out long ago if it wasn't for her lack of energy and motivation. Did she really need to fill those out then and there? Old Elsa would have, but unfortunately she doesn't feel like old Elsa. She feels overwhelmingly different, like something inside of her is telling her not to do anything productive.

The door to her study knocks of a guest, and instead of answering to it, she continues to stare aimlessly at her quill. Another knock occurs before the guest reveals themselves to be her dear sister, Anna. She's upset, face scrunched from chin to forehead.

"We have to talk."

Elsa barfs a sigh of annoyance. Her eyes roll to the back of her head as her palm releases her cheek, making her face almost fall to the flood of disorderly papers. "This again," she scoffs.

After slamming the door closed, Anna marches to the front of the desk, gripping the back of a chair facing Elsa's desk with her nails. "I deserve an explanation, and not just me, but everyone around you!" Anna uses her whole arm to point behind her, referring to their people.

Elsa looks up at her angered sister then stands up so that she is face to face with her. They were close in height, yet Elsa's figure was much taller than hers when she'd curve her spine in dominance.

"Don't raise your voice at me," Elsa demands with a calm, yet threatening voice. Her chin was high making Anna feel small, but she didn't let that get the best of her. "I'm the Queen."

"You're my sister," Anna spits. "God! It's like overnight you became an entitled bitch that thinks she knows everything about everyone. Well guess what? I'm a grown woman that knows better than that, and I'm not playing your game like everyone else."

Elsa squints her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"You know exactly what I mean." Anna scoffs, smiles out of disbelief, then crosses her arms. "What happened to you?"

Elsa mimics Anna's stance, crossing her chest and firming her lips together. "Nothing happened, everything is fine."

Anna roars out a laugh similar to one of North's. "Oh I _know_," her tone was blatantly sarcastic. "I know that you're hiding something."

Elsa parks her hands on her hips. With a challenging smirk, Elsa hisses, "Then prove it."

"The Stabbington Brothers."

The Ice Queen shrugs her shoulders. "What? They're gone."

"You bet your ass they are."

What is Elsa supposed to say to that? Her brain flows of possible scenarios her sister might say, but her mind comes to a blank, for she genuinely can't think of anything to say to that remark.

Anna smirks back out of achievement. She glides her fingertips across the flooded desk, and makes her way around to fully face Elsa. She's confused, and Anna basks in the glory before revealing the bigger picture.

"We found them."

Elsa's face goes pale in an instant. She told everybody they were dead, but she's beginning to second guess her judgement. Quickly, she recalls the night before, but her mind is at a blank. Her mind, the blank canvas, is empty. Her thoughts, the black paint, is evaporating. The painter is on hold, waiting for what Anna has to say next.

When her older sister decides not to respond back, Anna finishes her thought. "I was told not that long ago that two large men were found dead on the outskirts of the kingdom, far away from the castle. Their bodies are not fresh, so they've been there all day, most likely even before our little incident last night."

Anna pauses in case Elsa has anything to add. When her sister's mouth continues to gape open, she decides that it's best to continue on before she gets the chance to interrupt her. "It was the Stabbington Brothers, and autopsy report says that they must've died right before Kristoff even entered the stables." She holds her hands behind her back, swaying her figure in mocking innocence. Her voice gets a bit higher as she says, "no marks on the body, not even a single sign of struggle. They just dropped dead."

One more second of silence before she drops the question everyone has been waiting for. "What happened last night in your room? Who were you fighting, and why have you been acting so strange?" She grips Elsa's shoulders, shaking her, screaming at her, "what happened to your ice!?"

Out of quick thinking, she slaps her. Right in the center of her cheek, leaving a giant red hand print on her peach skin. It made a loud harsh slap when Elsa's cool hands hit Anna's warm cheek. Anna grabbed her dazed face, mouth gaped in astonishment and tears the size of pebbles building up in her tear ducts. Elsa's chest heaved up and down as she backed away carefully, gripping her hand out of her startling actions. Never has she ever _purposefully _laid a single finger on her little sister, but this seemed to take both of them by surprise.

None of the two knew what to say next, yet how to even comprehend this new feeling of betrayal. How does one think after such a random act of violence occurs from one's family member onto them?

Elsa hears her heart in her ears as she feels that little painter inside of her tell her to leave right away.

* * *

Dinner is dead silent except for the munching of a traditional Norwegian dish, Fårikål. They feast on the delicious meal, tasting the mutton and cabbage delight their taste buds.

Elsa had given them permission to eat without her before heading off to bed. The Guardians seemed quite worried for her, especially Jack since he's practically heard the most about what Elsa's going through out of anyone. They offered to fetch her, but Anna insisted not to.

Kristoff had dropped his fork dramatically onto his bowl when he basically yelled, "why not? We all know what happened."

Anna, still covering her cheek with her palm, flicked her eyes into her fiancee's, warning him with her look of caution. "Kristoff..."

"She. Hit. You. Anna."

Anna rolled her eyes into her food, poking at the meat with her fork. "We can have this conversation somewhere else, and not in front of the guests."

He slammed his hands on the wooden table, making his water flick out of his glass. "I'm talking to her." He pushed his chair out of his way, marching out of the grand dining room towards where ever they thought Elsa was. Anna called after him, and before he could respond, he was well out of their sight.

Anna ran after him with the rest of the group on her heals. "Kristoff!" Anna snapped as she saw his figure fade into the depths of the hallway.

One by one, they found themselves close on his back, and as they finally found him standing outside her bedroom, they realized his face was marked with confusion and shock. They crept closer until they found that what Kristoff was seeing was something more appalling than what they witnessed the night before.

Black ice everywhere. In every crevice, in every corner of the room revealed tall sharp icicles the color of fiery smoke. It hung from the ceiling, shot up from the ground, even mini ones embraced the interior of the door. From the sight of it, it seemed almost impossible that someone, even Elsa, stand in the middle of the room, for the blade of the ice would surely slice anybody to bits. The air was almost like that of cigarette smoke, filling their lungs with an unknown burning substance. With a harsh cough, Anna slammed the door because the air was too harsh for their throat. They felt like hurling up their insides.

It grew silent for a second before Anna grabbed Kristoff's brown sleeve, and made him follow her. The rest followed as Anna thought of checking outside in case Elsa had made any clues that she left. on the way, Anna had asked one of the guards if they've seen Elsa. Their only response was that they saw her leave with a dark blue cloak, covering her face. She left out the gates and didn't hear another peep come from her mouth.

Quick thinking, Anna led the group outside where more shocking news came to the Guardian's attention. They stood in the courtyard, and everything was a disturbing cherry red light hitting every surface. When they looked up to the sky they found a clear solar system with stars shooting from one planet to the next. This didn't seem out of the ordinary, but it was important to note that the sky had been covered by clouds all day that day, so why now has the fog dispersed? Well, as they examined the sky a bit longer, they saw that Manny had decided to show himself. Not only has the Moon decided to come out of hiding, but tonight he was Blood Moon.

"W-what's happening?" Rapunzel stumbled, hiding behind Eugene and Kristoff.

North's voice mumbles like gravel. "Man in Moon is in grave danger."

It's true. In the charcoal heavens lies a bloody Moon. It grew dimmer and dimmer as all five of the spirits gawk horrifically at their friend. For the first time in a long time, they didn't know what to do, and each one of the unique characters started to question whether or not it was worth travelling back to their time in North's snow globe, leaving this problem up to them to figure out. Only time will tell, but unfortunately Father Time was dead.

* * *

A thirty year-old woman cleans the last of that night's dinner, before feeding their affectionate halden hound the rest of their raw steak. She places her apron back onto the hook attached to a closet before clapping her hands and calling her three sons.

The three boys wrestle in one by one, each of them wearing their own individual nighties to match their personalities.

"Give your Mamma a kiss before heading off to bed," she cooed with open arms.

Each of her sons hugged their mother at the same time, kissing her cheek and calling out, "jeg elsker deg!" before zooming up to their shared room.

The woman gushed at them. She was raising three wonderful young men that will surely grow up to impress every young lady they come across. The woman praised herself once more for her excellent parenting, unhooking her messy bun to allow blonde and grey strands to cascade down her back. She pats her dog's head for finishing the last of the meat in such quick timing, to then enter their living room, and collapse in her favorite wooden chair.

She takes a deep breath through her nose, placing her knitting needles in her lap to begin making what looks like a new hat for her smallest son.

The woman rocks back and forth, and her throat goes anxious, for her husband had been out for hours and she hasn't heard anything from him.

She knits faster, and before she knows it, the front door opens to reveal her dazed husband. Odd, was he drunk?

She throws the yarn into her lap, hissing, "where on earth have you been, Ivar?!"

Ivar's pants are soaked of sea water and mud. He stands in dismay at the foot of the door making his wife scold him for letting the warm air out.

She grabs his shoulders, leading him inside their home. "Take off your filthy shoes. I worked hard cleaning these floors." He follows her commands, flicking them to an unknown destination in the room. When he's done, the dog begins to bark ferociously at this particular "stranger", and as Ivar attempts to calm his nerves, the vicious snarls turns to squeaky whimpers. The hound bucks his head with his tail behind his hind legs before disappearing into a different room.

Ivar sinks his head out of loss, and without another word, goes into the kitchen to fetch a strong glass of vodka.

His wife scoffs. "What do you think you're doing? Getting a glass at such a late hour? We have work tomorrow!"

Ivar groans as the liquid fills his cup. "You might need one too, Mari." He takes a swig straight out of the bottle before placing back where he got it from, and leads his wife and glass to the living room.

They both take a seat on their sofa, Mari struck by sickness of her husband's random act of foolishness.

"You've been missing all day," Mari stated with desperation. She gripped his large shoulders. "Jens didn't see you at the shop today, nor did he see you at the Queen's speech this afternoon, so where in the world have you been?"

Her husband did not falter his expression, rather he swigged his vodka and croaked out. "I did a bad thing today, Mari."

Her eyebrows scrunched. "What do you mean?"

He rubbed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose out of frustration. "Nobody will ever forgive me," he whimpered.

"For crying out loud, just tell me already, what did you do?!" She shook his body, making some of his drink spill onto their couch.

"I killed an innocent man today."

His wife froze, slowly releasing the grip of her husband. She softly stutters, "w-what?"

He takes another drink before continuing on. There was pain and true guilt to his voice. "I don't even know why I did it, or how, but..."

"But what?"

"But..." tears start to scatter his thirty year-old face. "All I remember is walking from the shore, just knowing that I was responsible for taking that old man's life away from him."

"Ivar..." Mari stood from her seat, backing away from whom she thought was her loving husband. "How could you?"

He raises his voice a little louder so it'll process in her head. Saliva escapes his lips as tears of guilt empties his eyes. Snot runs from his big nose. "I told you! I don't know why and I don't know how... All I know is that I haven't been thinking for myself."

His wife is mortified as she grabs at her coat, draping it over her shoulders.

Ivar laughs manically, sending chills down Mari's spine. He takes a few more gulps of his drink then hisses through his teeth with a cringed face. "And I'm not the only one."

With one last sip of his vodka, he lets the clear liquid scurry down the walls of the glass. With one last long sip of his drink, he begs for that last drip to hit the tip of his tongue. Relishing the strong taste of the delicious beverage, he stumbles, "And I'm most definitely not the last either."


	11. Chapter 10

**The couple at the end of the previous chapter where discussing her husbands behavior. Her husband is one of the men that drowned the old man a couple chapters back encase anybody missed that.**

* * *

The vivid red glow of the moon illuminated the forest. Leaves of the shrubs radiated a deep maroon from the nightly heavens as the ruffle of wind brushed through the trees. Dirt from beneath Hans' shoes mucked of footprints from traveling all that evening. As he lifted his chin to the leaves concealing the solar system, he found the same blood moon everyone else in that vicinity had seen that night.

Hans combed his newly black hair with his fingers as he continued to march beyond the greenish-red nature. He felt exotically good with his blood pumping and adrenaline rushing. He could barely recall the events that occurred just an hour before, but he didn't mind it. As long as he could continue feeling the way that he did then, he did not care what Pitch did and didn't tell him.

"Where to next," he asked with prep in his lungs.

As he gazed around, he could sure tell that there was no one in his sight; however, the night that Pitch promised him revenge against the Snow Queen was also the night that Hans voluntarily gave up his body. That meant that Pitch Black would be inside his mind, telling him what to do, and when to do it on the spot in return of the relishing power of blood. At first, the deal seemed quite wary, for the addiction of murder was rather lost on the Danish man, but he didn't care. All he wanted was Elsa dead, and that's exactly where the plan was headed.

It took a few seconds for the echo in his head to slither, "France. We've taunted Norway and Germany long enough. Any longer and the Guardians will surely catch on to me."

Hans raised a dark brow, unsure of where to rest his eyes since Pitch was in his head. "You?"

Pitch corrected himself. "Us." His airy voice echoed throughout his ears, making goosebumps appear on the back of his neck.

Hans nodded promptly, continuing their path south down the brushes and leaves when a thought came to his mind. "What exactly happened to my brothers," Hans questioned.

Not long after, the Nightmare King's grumbled voice whispered, "Taken care of just like everyone else soon. Don't worry about it."

As Hans hiked forward with that last thought in his brain he carelessly obeyed what the voice in his mind told him.

* * *

Rapunzel proceeds to shut all the blinds that revealed the slightest bit of red light pouring from the moon. As the bedroom dimmed darker and darker, Kristoff lit tall candles one by one, even starting the fireplace for excess light. As they made the room brighter, Anna sat hopelessly on her bed, squeezing her stomach.

"Anna," Rapunzel soothed, wrapping a wool blanket around her shoulders. "Everything is going to be okay. Elsa is going to come home like the last time." Her voice was warm and full of hope for the future. It was nice to get a little optimism in the midst of approaching doom.

Anna whimpered into the itchy blanket, "the only reason Elsa ever came home was because we made her come home." She sniffles through her nose and hiccups, "she never has any intention of coming back when she runs away."

Rapunzel didn't know how to respond, so she accompanied her on the bed and hugged her shoulder. Anna was shaking like a scared puppy which made Rapunzel feel despaired. "She'll be back," the brunette whimpered.

Kristoff continued to stand facing away from the two girls, staring at the flames of the fireplace. He pinched his nose as he squeezed his eyelids shut, processing the events that occurred after their dinner. They were eating food and before he knew it, they were searching for Elsa yet again. This was getting old, and Kristoff proceeded to think that Elsa was acting like a child instead of addressing what everyone was thinking about. However, on the other side, he reminded himself that it was unfair of him to judge Elsa based off her actions without actually considering what she's gone through in the past few days.

Kristoff flip flopped between being angry then sympathetic until he heard an aggressive cough coming from behind him. He turned his neck ever so slightly to see where the noise came from when he found Rapunzel urgently staring at him then back at Anna. Her arm was still wrapped around her back with Anna's cheek placed gently on the shoulder of the chestnut haired woman.

"Kristoff..." Rapunzel called, eyebrows dipped. "What do you think?"

The burly man blinked profusely. "What do I think?" He had his hand on his chest with the other on the edge of the roasting fireplace. "Elsa's not coming back until we make her come back."

Anna's blue eyes perked a little at her fiancee's remark. "You think?" Her head was slightly hovering over Rapunzel's shoulder, interested in what he would say next.

Rapunzel was not amused. In fact, she was not expecting to hear that come out of either of their mouths. She jumped off the bed, forcing Anna to sit up on her own, then placed her fists on her hips. With a raised voice, she asked, "do either of you two realize that it is dangerous out there?"

Anna allowed the heavy blanket fall from her shoulders. "I don't care if I die trying, but I need my sister."

Kristoff chimed in on Anna's defense. "We've been through this many times before." He casually walked over to them with an extra pounce to his step. "Plus, the Guardians don't know what the blood moon means either, so-"

"So!? They know more about this than we ever will in our entire life time!"

The door rocked open with Eugene appearing on the other side. His hair was sleek as usual, and his clothes were primed and pressed as always. "Why are you guys yelling?" His hands were up in confusion as his face made an expression of puzzlement.

Rapunzel pressed her thin pink lips together, and her face began to blush. A vain popped from her neck as did her forehead while her olive eyes widened. She pointed a finger at the couple, then exclaimed, "these two want to put their own lives in danger in order to get Elsa!"

Eugene's arms dropped to his sides when his neck reached out in utter bewilderment. "You want to what?"

Anna rose to her feet making her dress sway in the process. "Yes, and we're wasting time here talking about it." With that, she shoved past her cousin to march out of her bedroom. The three followed her as they made their way down the twisting stairs and the paintings as well as statues. Not soon after, they found themselves at the entrance of the castle with the five Guardians waiting for them. They all seemed worried and anxious. You could tell by their faces that they didn't know where to start at handling this very new predicament.

North let out a pity laugh, painting an agitated impression on his face. "Oh there you are! We were just looking for you four."

Anna nodded her head and had a maid fetch her a cloak and some boots. "As to you, North." She cleared her throat. "Look you guys, I'm going after Elsa, and I need help doing it."

Their eyes bulged out of their heads in synchronization. Each of them gawked at one another in concern.

North uttered, "you what?"

The maid Anna called planted the greenish blue cloak on her shoulders, tying it at the collarbone. It matched well with the rest of her nature green outfit. When the maid was finished, Anna concluded with a, "yes. Now who's going with me, and who's staying to look after the kingdom?"

Bunnymund remarked, "Are you crazy? Who knows what's going on out there?!"

Tooth added, "I agree. It's not safe for us to go save the Queen at the moment."

Lastly, Sandman shrugged his shoulders as he shook his head no.

Anna was out of luck and sunk her head to the ground in defeat. Until, she noticed that one particular person hasn't given an answer yet. She sprung her neck up in the speed of light towards Jack's direction. He was in the back behind Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy, which soon they would all move to the side so Anna got a clear view of him. His crooked staff was off to the side, so he had both of his hands inside of his pockets. The frost man's hood was bashfully over his head, concealing most of his opal hair.

Anna slowly made her way towards Jack, and as she did so, he took off the hood hiding his facial features. Anna's lips curled into a smile full of sympathy as she raised a hand on to Jack's shoulder. He was surprised by this, and shifted in place ever so slightly.

"Jack," she murmured, "would you _please _come with me to help Elsa, my sister?"

Jack was clearly uncomfortable. When he looked to his comrades for support, he was greeted by shaking heads and disapproving gestures. As he looked to Rapunzel and Eugene, they weren't that far off from the Guardian's countenance; negative vibes. However, when he shifted his gaze back on Anna's, he saw something in her that he never thought he'd see again. The way her smile turned to a frown like that of a puppy's, or the way her tear ducts began to water at the sight of him considering other options. She looked almost like his sister... But in the end, he had to do what was best for them and himself.

He sighed in guilt, letting his chin rest on his neck. He closed his eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Anna, but I can't."

Anna's brows knitted together as did her lips. The tears building up made the whites of her eyes resemble glossy porcelain. She didn't let go of his shoulders, in fact she squeezed tighter. "Please," she whimpered. "I can't do this alone."

Her pitiful cries made Jack's heart sink into his stomach. He didn't want to stay, he genuinely wanted to help Anna and Elsa with all his heart. He couldn't though because of the unknown consequences of facing the blood moon. None of them were aware of what would happen to them if he went with Anna.

She sniffed, and without trying to, she raised the volume of her voice to bawl, "don't you know what it's like to lose a sister?"

"Yes."

Anna was just as taken aback as everyone else in their vicinity. She released his shoulders to wipe her eyes. "Oh," she whispered. "I'm very sorry."

Jack shrugged his shoulders, and continued to look at the wooden ground. Something in that statement made Jack want to tear up, but he wasn't going to allow himself do that, so he swallowed his pride and rethought his options. He could sit cowardly in the castle for something unexpected to happen, or take charge of the situation to save someone that means something to him. _Come to think of it, what _did_ Elsa mean to me? _He shook his head, it wasn't the time to think about that.

The man with porcelain skin shifted his lips to the side then said, "okay, I'll help-"

Anna gasped in joy and sucked all her tears up. She jumped in pride, repeatedly clapping her hands in joy. "You will?"

Jack gifted her a small smile, then turned to quickly grasp his staff. He tapped it to the ground ever so slightly to create tiny bits of snowflakes to arise from the ground. The smallest of snowflakes danced around Anna's head until it twisted and turned onto her button nose. Tiny specs of frost glimmered around her face until she presented Jack a wide smile filled with glee.

"Besides," he rolled up his sleeves. "Ice wielders should always help each other out. Just remind Queen Elsa to return the favor."

* * *

The blunders of wind going against her tried to stop the Queen in her tracks. As she made her way up the hills, past the mountains, and onto the trails leading north, the howls of wind made her journey slower. Her healed boots made footprints onto the dirt path too, so she mentally scolded herself for leaving a trail so that if anyone wanted to follow her they could.

Alas, about an hour or so passed and she had finally made it to her ice castle. It wasn't a majestic blue like it was earlier that day, or any other day for that matter, yet the color of the moon made it reflect a harsh red. The curves of ice as well as the arches of her creation looked too sharp and harmful for her taste, especially in that lighting. She had no clue why the moon was a dark maroon shade, but most importantly, she had no idea why it was hurting her. When Elsa would attempt to slide her hood off, even the slightest touch of moonlight burned her wrist. Not only that, but she heard far cries of voices yelling out to her, but when the blonde would turn to seek the source of the moans, she found that nothing was there. _It's probably just in my head_, she thought to herself.

She escaped the light of the moon to then isolate herself in the comforts of her safe haven. Elsa tried hugging stomach, repeating to herself, "it's okay, Elsa. Everything is going to be okay." But even that didn't calm her nerves. The Queen latched tighter onto her navy blue cloak to see if that would work as a stress ball, yet her anxiety continue to flare. What was she to do?

Thoughts overflowed her mind of why she hit Anna? What did Anna say to tick her off so badly? Also, why didn't she hesitate? Elsa asked herself all these things, but she could barely come up with a good enough excuse to justify her actions. Something inside that only Elsa could feel was controlling her to do things she didn't want to do; to keep secrets she really did not want to keep. She has to keep this a secret from Anna though, or else they'll go after her too. Elsa just knew that if something slipped, all hell would break loose.

In the midst of her thoughts, out of nowhere Elsa heard a peep. It was high pitched, and every second that passed the squeaks multiplied into tens, hundreds, thousands of repetitive mouse squeaking. Where could they be coming from? She was alone, she knew that for sure; the only people that knew where her ice castle was was Anna, Kristoff, and now Jack Frost. The noises were not coming from below her, for she was on the first floor. Elsa decided that the best thing to do was go on the second floor to investigate.

As she opened the tall crystal door to the room she was hearing the noises from, she yelped at the sight of thousands of rats scurrying about. They were all black and a little see through. Their bodies were the magnitude of baseballs, and their whiskers were as long as pencils. Elsa, with a hand on her chest in hopes of slowing down the rhythm of her heart, tried calculating how these varmints would have made their way up here, but there was no way. Briskly, she slammed the door behind her then sprinted as fast as she could down to the first floor again.

She was in the largest pit of anxiety she's ever been in in her life. Elsa's chest fell and rose with the tempo of her breaths. Why was she being haunted by these monsters that only she could see and feel. The Queen felt as if the whole world was coming to an end, and only she was being affected by it.

Elsa covered her eyes to attempt to come to her senses, but when she finally felt her heart come at a steady rate, she heard a familiar voice.

"Who is that?!" she screamed, hopefully getting a rise out of the person taunting her.

The voice made a sound again, but it was more like a small laugh. It wasn't just any voice, but that of a child's. As Elsa froze in place to concentrate on identifying the occupant's laugh, the expressiveness of the child became more distinct.

Elsa opened her eyes and found the child, but it wasn't any ordinary kid. It was herself, but this time, a silhouette of her. Little Elsa's facial features were difficult to distinguish because she looked almost like a shadow.

Little Elsa laughed louder with joy, dancing and twirling about the room in lightening speed. Little Elsa found herself twirling to the beat of her own song, then literally in a blink of an eye, she was gone only to appear prancing somewhere else.

Elsa was in confusion as to what was happening, and why she was seeing herself as a child. Did this mean something? Was she perhaps getting a message from the voices in her head? Elsa decided she'd find out.

"Hello?" The Queen called out gently in hopes to not scare her as much as she scared Elsa.

Instead of answering, Little Elsa disappeared then reappeared right in front of her. This time, the child was wailing out tears, yelling, "Let me go outside, Pappa please!" over and over until the pleads got louder and louder.

Elsa walked back in astonishment. Her whole body began to shiver in fright. "W-what?"

The pleads for Pappa multiplied until lots of Little Elsa's surrounded the Queen, making her apprehensive. Elsa's lungs felt like they were suffocating with her small yet quick breaths. The noise was getting too much for her until Elsa sunk into her knees and screeched out "STOP TAUNTING ME!" louder than any of their cries.

And it worked. Only the soft whimpering of the original Elsa could be heard over this new sound of quietness. She fully collapsed to the sleek floor and cradled her knees into her face. Why was this happening to her? Hasn't she gone through enough already?

After what felt like five minutes which was actually ten, she raised her head off the ground to discover a new Elsa. One that was more grown up, but not quite. She stood regally at the foot of current Elsa with her coronation clothes on. Current Elsa rose to her feet, wiping the snot and tears from her puffy eyes in the process. Elsa backed away some more, afraid of what the clone would do.

Coronation Elsa was a dark silhouette just like Little Elsa, but this time she wasn't dancing and twirling about, but as still as a statue.

"What do you want from me? Please tell me," Queen Elsa sobbed.

Her clone did not respond to the question. Coronation Elsa continued to stand idly at herself.

When Elsa thought to say something else to get a rise out of her, a bold scream of the word "monster" came from all corners of the room. They were many different types of voices, some that she even recognized to be her own family members. "Monster" continuously rumbled in Elsa's head, but when she tried covering her ears, the groans only matured into louder wails.

Elsa screamed as loud as she could to drown out the terrible remarks the voices made about her, but it was ineffective. She peered into Coronation Elsa's dark eyes, begging her to make them stop, yet it continued to turn into ear-splitting cries.

Elsa cried some more until it suddenly stopped like Little Elsa. Instead of Elsa's clone going away, however, she turned into the very thing she feared would come back.

Coronation Elsa's limbs grew muscular and giant. Her face contorted into a snarly monster. This thing grew into the size of a horrific snow monster. The snow of the being was dark that glistened in the reflection of light. It roared a deafening howl that made the walls of the castle vibrate, and some of the windows shatter into bits of pieces. Surely, anyone would have heard the thunderous wail from miles away.

This was it! This was who she fought the night before. The biggest snarliest snow monster she's ever witnessed in her life. She never wished to see it again, and when it fled on its own that night, she was relieved to see the nightmare gone. Yet here it is, standing intimidatingly at Elsa, watching her every move.

She thought about using her powers to stop it, but the last time she did it got her and somehow possessed her mind. When it achieved its goal, Elsa was sprouting out ice the shade of coal in the split of a second. She wanted to attack this monster, but was so scare, so in shock of what was in front of her that the only response she could make was a soft whimper. As her breath quickened, and her heart went wild, Elsa's vision went blurry until she felt her head collapse onto the floor.

Her last sight before fainting to the ground was the very thing she feared of most:

To watch herself become a monster.


	12. Update

Hey, I'm here! sorry it's been such a long time since the last update... I've been mourning, and needed time to spend time with family and friends, as well as getting my mind off it by finishing school work.

I decided to update to let ya'll know that I am not abandoning this story.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a very lovely week! Hug someone, tell your friends and family you love them, and remember to never forget that every last one of you are beautiful people

I'll try to find time to update sometime next weekend

Love ya'll!


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